Marvel Chickened out of a Female Villain in Iron Man 3 because of Toy Sales

The Iron Man franchise has been one of the best performing brand under Marvel and it won’t be wrong to say that it is the success of the movie series which has triggered the expansion of the Marvel Universe to what it is today.

It’s been a long time since the first Iron Man movie came out, and usually when something goes on for this long, secrets get spilled eventually, and that is exactly what has happened. As reported by Jezebel, an early script for Iron Man 3 was trashed because it had the nerve to feature a female villain.

Back in 2013, when Iron Man was being finalized, Marvel executives weren’t too convinced with a female villain as that wouldn’t be a strong enough factor to sell toys in good numbers,

Iron Man 3 director Shane Black said in an interview to Uproxx that the first draft of the Iron Man 3 script went through several changes, which included dropping the idea of a female villain.

Shane Black, Director, Iron Man 3

The plot went this way and that way. Stéphanie 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.

Seems like Marvel fans will have to wait a little longer to see a female character given as much importance as the other male characters in the Marvel Universe, after all, if Marvel had to come out with a movie that revolves around a female lead, then Black Widow would have gotten her first film by now.