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Iron Man 3 might be the most controversial Marvel flick to date. Some people love its manic tone and fake out twists, while other fans despise how the film rewrote the rules on the Mandarin. However, one universal gripe? What was the deal with Rebecca Hall‘s character Maya Hansen? She’s a brilliant scientist who gets summarily killed off when she chooses to help Tony and his friends. It’s especially confounding because in the lead up to the film, the character was being touted as a “strong” female character for a superhero franchise.
During an interview to promote his new film, The Nice Guys, Iron Man 3 director Shane Black revealed that Hall’s character was originally supposed to be the big villain of the film. The plan was that it would be revealed that she had been in fact pulling all the puppet strings the whole time. (WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN SO COOL.) So what happened?
Black went on to describe how the call didn’t come from Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, but somewhere from Marvel Entertainment. Last year parent company Disney split the two apart and mandated that Marvel Entertainment no longer have any say in Marvel Studios films. Black explained, “They never told me who made the decision, we just got that memo one day and it was about toy sales. That’s all I know.”
Hall wasn’t the only female character to get the onscreen shaft. Stéphanie Szostak’s crazy super soldier-gone-bad was also supposed to have a bigger role. However, Marvel Entertainment thought that they wouldn’t be able to sell villainess action figures to kids.
If Iron Man 3 were being made today, this probably wouldn’t have been a problem. Not only does Marvel Entertainment not have a say, but there’s been substantial proof in the last year that there is a demand for female action figures. Think of the furor for Rey action figures last winter. Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett is currently set to play the first official Marvel film villainess in Thor: Ragnorak.
