Ever since theMarvel Cinematic Universewas launched in 2008 with the firstIron Manmovie, Marvel Studios has been on a huge hot streak, churning out success after success over the past eight years. This massive string of hits continued earlier this month with the release of their first Phase 3 adventure,Captain America: Civil War, which has already earned more than $940 million worldwide in its brief theatrical run. Even with all of its acclaim, the MCU has faced plenty of criticism, especially when it comes to adding more diversity among its superhero ranks, most notably with female characters. Today we have new details about one of the MCU’s biggest movies, 2013’sIron Man 3, which, according to directorShane Black, almost had afemale villain, before he was forced to change the character to a male.
Iron Man 3directorShane Blackhas been making the press rounds to promote his new movieThe Nice Guys, in theaters this weekend, when he made a surprising admission about the movie, which kicked off Phase 3 back in 2013.Guy Pearceportrayed the main villain,Aldrich Killian, but the filmmaker, who also co-wrote the script withDrew Pearce, revealed that early drafts of the script had Killian as a female character. The director revealed in an interview withUproxxthat he was forced by Marvel to change the villain to a male character, because having a female villain would adversely affect the toy sales from the movie. Here’s what the director had to say below.
“Stephanie Szostak’s character was bigger at one point and we reduced it.Rebecca Hall’s character was bigger at one point and we reduced it. All I’ll say is this, on the record: There was an early draft ofIron Man 3where we had an inkling of a problem. Which is that we had a female character who was the villain in the draft. We had finished the script and we were given a no-holds-barred memo saying that cannot stand and we’ve changed our minds because, after consulting, we’ve decided that toy won’t sell as well if it’s a female. So, we had to change the entire script because oftoymaking. Now, that’s notFeige. That’s Marvel corporate, but now you don’t have that problem anymore. New York called and said, ‘That’s money out of our bank.’ In the earlier draft, the woman was essentially Killian - and they didn’t want a female Killian, they wanted a male Killian. I liked the idea, like Remington Steele, you think it’s the man but at the end, the woman has been running the whole show. They just said, ‘no way.'”
The director went on to add that he is a fan ofKevin Feige, calling him the “guy that gets it right.” It’s worth noting thatKevin Feigehas also stated thatIron Man 3was one of the toughest movies to make, which may have lead to the Marvel shake-up that happened just a few years later. In September 2015, it was announced that Marvel Studios presidentKevin Feigewill now be reporting directly to Disney CEOAlan Horn, instead of Marvel Entertainment CEOIke Perlmutter. Just one day after that announcement, it was also revealed that Marvel Studios’ creative committee was disbanded, which has been rumored to be the source of many filmmakers' frustrations over the years. The news came just a few months afterEdgar Wrighthad dropped out ofAnt-Man, after being attached for nearly a decade.
Regardless of who the villain ended up being inIron Man 3, the movie still fared quite well at the box office, earning just over $409 million domestically and $1.2 billion worldwide. It is currently the studio’s third-highest grossing movie both domestically and worldwide, but that may change soon sinceCaptain America: Civil Waris close to taking in $1 billion after less than two weeks in theaters. WithKevin Feigereporting directly to Disney instead of the controversialIke Perlmutter, we’ll have to wait and see how the MCU will continue to evolve under this new regime, which could include more female villains and heroes alike, including the upcomingCaptain Marvel. It is rumored thatThor: Ragnarokhas a female villain, but that has yet to be confirmed.
