Marvel eying Emily Blunt for villain in Iron Man 3

A British newspaper is reporting that producers are hoping to sign Emily Blunt as a villain in Iron Man 3. The report also says that Gywneth Paltrow will not appear in The Avengers.

A new report in the British newspaper The Daily Mail claims that producers are “hoping to land British star Emily Blunt to play the villain in the next Iron Man installment.”

Blunt was the original choice to play the Black Widow, a role that eventually went to Scarlett Johansson when scheduling conflicts forced Blunt out of Iron Man 2. If this report is true, Blunt apparently made an impression on the producers, who are keen work with her.

“They are desperate to have Emily as the villain in the next Iron Man film and will continue to have Gwyneth playing Pepper, though she won’t feature in The Avengers,” the report said.

No mention on who Blunt might play. Iron Man’s gallery of villains isn’t too deep with women, but if Mickey Rourke’s role in Iron Man 2 (which was an amalgamation of a few different enemies) is any indication, Blunt’s role could be an original creation for the movies.

Take this with a grain of salt for now, but Iron Man 3 has been confirmed. Robert Downey Jr. is under contract, and director Jon Favreau has said he will be back.  Favreau has also said that he wants to see an updated version of The Mandarin, one of Iron Man’s oldest enemies, in the film. No date has been set, but 2013 has been mentioned.