Empire Reveals Their IRON MAN 3 Cover

Joss Whedon Confirms His Original AVENGERS Scripts Featured Many Scenes With Wasp

CinemaBlend attended a question and answer screening of Avengers which Joss Whedon talked about the film. He revealed a mysterious second villain that the studio shot-down. Joss also stated that at one point it having Scarlett Johansson in the film wasn't a sure thing. Instead of including Black Widow in his early drafts he had included Janet van Dyne/The Wasp as her replacement.

"There was a little bit of time when we thought we might not actually get Scarlett," Whedon said while talking about how they decided which characters would make up the team in the movie. The solution was to make the female lead the fantastic shrinking Janet van Dyne, but even before a deal was made with Johansson the writer/director started realizing problems with the draft. "There was a very Wasp-y draft that I wrote – but it was way too Wasp-y. Because I was like, ‘She adorable! I’m just going to write her!’"


It's sounds like if those scenes still exist they could be saved for Avengers 2 or even handed over to Edgar Wright for Ant-Man. Wasp very well could show up in Iron Man 3 if a certain rumor turns out to be true. This isn't the first time Black Widow being included was up in the air. Apparently, there were plans on including both Black Widow played by Emily Blunt and Scarlet Witch played by Scarlett Johansson in Iron Man 2. Jon Favreau had to cut one of the characters as Blunt exited the project and Johansson placed in the role. There was even talk originally that Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel was going to show up in Avengers but that didn't happen. Recently, there is talk the studio is looking at Ruth Wilson and Emily Blunt to play Danvers in Avengers 2. Whedon has promised a larger female presence and hopefully this will seen in Phase 2.

RUMOR: Stephanie Szostak Playing Janet Van Dyne (Wasp) In IRON MAN 3?

Take this new rumor with a massive grain of salt. As online rumblings via ScreenRant point to French actress Stephanie Szostak could be playing Janet van Dyne in Iron Man 3. Her role unnamed and unconfirmed has peeked the curiosity of many Iron Man films. Best known to American audiences as the love interest from Dinner For Schmucks. There has already been talk that A.I.M. would become the villains of Ant-Man with the evil arms company first making it's film debut in Iron Man 3. Could Janet appear in some of the A.I.M. scenes, setting up her character for Edgar Wright's Ant-Man?

The main reason we shouldn't be so quick to believe this rumor is a couple of reasons. First, Edgar Wright would be the only person casting actors for his films and if Shane Black hired Stephanie it would seem odd to have in the role of Janet. Marvel removed an original line from Thor that had Erik's colleague being Hank Pym not Bruce Banner. Wright had been adamant that his characters would be introduced in his film. That being said, we've seen directors setting up the expanded Marvel universe with Nick Fury (Iron Man), Black Widow (Iron Man 2), Hawkeye (Thor), Winter Soldier (Captain America), Maria Hill (Avengers), Falcon (Cap 2) and possibly Doctor Strange (Thor 2).

Another problem is the source linking her to Wasp is not a reliable one. However, they're piggybacking a tidbit from RogerWardell who has decent record. He claims she has a high profile role that fans will go nuts over. We've seen sites like this have similar claims previously with Iron Man 2. Having Olivia Munn linked for Scarlet Witch and Kate Mara for Bethany Cable only turnout to be cameos. I've put a lot of hope for myself that she's playing Whitney Frost but it has more to do with the talk of Pepper becoming Rescue.

SPOILER SPECULATION: Plot Theories Of IRON MAN 3

The new trailer for Iron Man 3 seems to have given fans a lot to speculate over not to mention confirming some of the rumors as well. Here are a couple of my thoughts on what may or may not be in the film from previous rumors, rumblings, set photos and now this footage. Be warned this could very well spoil the film for you if you read any further.

THE TEN RINGS RETURN: Similar to The Dark Knight Rises, Iron Man 3 looks to close the circle of a trilogy by bringing back old villains. The terrorist group The Ten Rings headed by The Mandarin (self-proclaimed terrorist) looks to get very personal by blowing up Tony's home. We should assume they are very well armed this time-around and will be a force to be feared.

MANDARIN UPDATED AND RINGS COSMIC POWERED: It's looking like Ben Kingsley's Mandarin will be less a Fu Manchu and more terrorist guru. Previously, it had been rumored that the Chinese version of the film would have to change the villains because of the sensitivity of Chinese audiences. By sound of Ben's voice he might end up becoming more of an Eastern European baddie (possibly Chechnyan). His rings look like they may or may not be cosmic relics, could Mandarin be yet another pawn of Thanos?

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS GETTING BUMPED-OFF: In the image above things aren't looking so good for Happy Hogan (Favreau). After the death scene in Avengers it looks like anyone is fair-game to get the ol' axe, even Pepper. Notice Happy's chest which looks like his own chest-reactor. My previous speculation of The Iron Legion could be at play here. Where friends of Stark come together and don their own suits to save the day. Perhaps, Hogan isn't so lucky fighting the new threat.

WHITNEY FROST/MADAME MASQUE: Nothing confirmed here but it's looking very likely that French actress Stephanie Sozstak (seen above in the screengrab) has been at least cast in a similar role. Frost has been both friend and enemy of Stark so she could help or try to hurt him within the entire film. There is also talk this is just a random hook-up scene but Stephanie seems a little too aggressive.

PEPPER BECOMING RESCUE: This image gives the impression that Pepper is in a bad place from the look on her face. Possibly getting her own chest reactor like Tony, leading her to get her own suit with the nickname Rescue. It's been mentioned before that Feige and Shane Black would love to see Potts in her own suit. Finally, giving Pepper equal footing with Tony as one of the stronger female characters in the Marvel universe.

NO S.H.I.E.L.D. OR AVENGERS HELPING TONY: While there had been talk of replacing Agent Coulson with Maria Hill as Tony's new assigned S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. The organization along with fellow Avengers won't be there to help Stark in his darkest hour. It's pretty obvious that he might have to go off-the-grid to keep himself and others alive.

NEW ARMOR AN ANDROID: In Avengers we heard Tony refer to life-model decoy which is reference to androids. The new suit seems to be piloting itself in a few spot unless a villain or someone else is actually in there. If anyone would be able to create the technology that would lead to Ultron/Vision it would be Stark. It seems like there are some glitches if that's the case.

KILLIAN A BRIDGE TO WINTER SOLDIER: Killian (Pearce) seems to be heading up Advanced Idea Mechanics if the set photos are to be believed. Another group linked to HYDRA and started by Baron Strucker. It wouldn't be shocking to see him revealed as indeed Strucker leading to a resurrection of HYDRA or at the very least planting seeds for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Stephanie Szostak Joins IRON MAN 3, Could She Be Playing Whitney Frost?

I'm a little late on this news but French actress Stephanie Sozstak (R.I.P.D., We Bought A Zoo, Devil Wears Prada) has joined the stellar cast of Iron Man 3. It was announced at Comic-Con during the Marvel pannel. While her character hasn't been revealed it's possible that she's been cast Whitney Frost (Madame Masque). Emily Blunt had been linked for the role before the film begun it's casting so it's possible they've just cast another actress. However, there's a bit of a link between Frost and Pepper becoming Rescue so Marvel could be holding that back for Iron Man 4. Not to mention the two other large villains Killian (Guy Pearce) and The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) already in place, it might be too crowded. That being said, it's also possible she might have been cast as Tony's quick witted secretary Kathleen Rennie. Other speculation place her as a possible candidate for Janet van Dyne (The Wasp) who could be introduced in the film.