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Why Hayter's Black Widow Was Shelved

Have you ever wondered what happened to David Hayter's Black Widow script that we first heard about way back in 2004?


Courtesy of LatinoReview:

El Mayimbe from Latino Review found this excerpt while reading TALES FROM THE SCRIPT: 50 HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITERS SHARE THEIR STORIES.

DAVID HAYTER: I had a very solid relationship with Marvel, having worked on a number of films with them, and I was looking for something to write and direct. They brought up Black Widow, and I knew the character very well from the comic book. So I spent about a year working on the script, and I was extremely happy with it. Essentially, the story is a young Russian girl’s parents are killed, so she’s given to the KGB to be developed into a super spy. In her early teen years, the Soviet Union crumbles, so they decide to kill her. But at that point, she’s too tough to kill, so she escapes and makes her way to America. Then, years later, we catch up with her in present day. She’s a freelance mercenary, and she’s called back to where she was brought up to face her past. What I tried to do was use the backdrop of the splintered Soviet Empire – a lawless insane asylum with four hundred some odd nuclear missile silos. It was all about loose nukes, and I felt it was very timely and very cool. Unfortunately, as I was coming up on the final draft, a number of female vigilante movies came out. We had Tomb Raider and Kill Bill, which were the ones that worked, but then we had BloodRayne and Ultraviolet and Aeon Flux. Aeon Flux didn’t open well, and three days after it opened, the studio said, “We don’t think it’s time to do this movie.” I accepted their logic in terms of the saturation of the marketplace, but it was pretty painful. I had not only invested a lot of time in that movie, but I had also named my daughter, who was born in that time period Natasha – after the lead character in Black Widow. I named my daughter after a movie that I wasn’t working on anymore.


Hawksblueyes: This may have been a pretty good movie.

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42 Comments

:)
Hawksblueyes - 2/26/2010, 1:54 PM
that sounds cool its a bummer they didnt make it
soperman - 2/26/2010, 2:02 PM
THEY COULD DO IT KNOW SINCE SHES IN AMERICA NOW WITH TONY IT WOULD MAKE SENSE IF THEY DO IT NOW. STUDIOS JUST DON'T THINK
flames809 - 2/26/2010, 2:07 PM
Damn, would've probably been pretty cool! :)
JoshW - 2/26/2010, 2:07 PM
Cool, anyways after IRON MAN 2, theres gonna be a BLACK WIDOW spin off with SCAR JO!!

Right?
LEEE777 - 2/26/2010, 2:18 PM
LEEE: I don't know but it is a possiblity.
Hawksblueyes - 2/26/2010, 2:20 PM
The moral of this story?

Don't be a Hayter!

Thank you, Thank you. I'll be here all week, try the veal.
DogsOfWar - 2/26/2010, 2:25 PM
Dogs: That was rich buddy.;)
Hawksblueyes - 2/26/2010, 2:32 PM
The movie was destroyed when they hit it's Radome with a Stinger Missile.
Mercenary - 2/26/2010, 2:33 PM
Typical of studios.

"Aeon Flux, Ultraviolet and BloodRayne failed at the Box Office.I guess people just don't want to see female action heroes.No way could it be our faults for making the movies crappy

tazmaniak - 2/26/2010, 3:47 PM
maybe this movie would be a better marvel anime...milla jovovich has probably done all the shit we would have seen black widow do :)
Anil Rickly - 2/26/2010, 9:26 PM
Cool!!
LEEE777 - 2/27/2010, 12:35 AM
@Kenny: Too true
@Dogs: Ah! Ya beat me too it.
@Anil: did you get my email?
jusme6 - 2/27/2010, 3:49 AM
Well I say make it, after the character is introduced in Iron Man 2 the scene is set for a solo movie. They can do it after Avengers maybe...It would definitely be something worth checking out and not just for us comicbook fans :) ... Just look at it this way... ScaJo in leather kicking some ass in a movie that isn't too fantasy superhero like... Even the average moviegoer would without doubt be able to get a hard on over that IMO!!! ;)
LuckyKid90 - 2/27/2010, 5:12 AM
We can allways pretend:


EditNinja - 2/27/2010, 5:27 AM
To mirror a previous opinion, if Scarlett Johansson's character is very well received in "Iron Man 2" they could dust that shit off and have another look at it as a possible low budget venture. Of course with a few rewrites to tag it cohesively to their current film universe.

WeaponX - 2/27/2010, 6:32 AM


I think both Nick Fury and Black Widow films could be great spin-offs and they wouldn't cost as much as Iron Man 2 or Thor..since they're less effects heavy characters
ChristopherM - 2/27/2010, 7:04 AM
@EditNinja

nice fan trailer have you done a Luke Cage and Nick Fury
jazzman - 2/27/2010, 7:23 AM
WTF?!?

Is anyone really calling for a [frick]in' Black Widdow movie?
magic8 - 2/27/2010, 10:47 AM
Black Widow fans I would imagine.
RorMachine - 2/27/2010, 11:03 AM
David Hayer is the freaking man, would love to see him do a CGI Metal Gear movie and play Snake.
Sortis - 2/27/2010, 11:13 AM
"Black Widow fans I would imagine." -RorMachine


How many could there be?
magic8 - 2/27/2010, 11:26 AM
@magic8

well Marvel felt there were enough to develop the film in 2004....she was featured in so many comics that she is a very well known character.. kicking around since 64'...Black Widow deserves a movie more than Elektra ever did...not every hero needs to have super powers or fight villains with them...it would be cool to see Marvel Studios make a Le Femme Nikita type comic book film




ChristopherM - 2/27/2010, 12:37 PM
@magic8

i think theirs more Black Widow fans instead of Elektra and they made a Elektra movie.
jazzman - 2/27/2010, 12:38 PM
@ jazzman yeah black widow is better than electra.i'm up for ms.marvel film.
deadpool72 - 2/27/2010, 2:31 PM
@deadpool72

yeah i agree the only problem is the film studios dont know how to make a good female comic book movie. look at the fail female comic book movies Catwoman and Elektra.
jazzman - 2/27/2010, 2:42 PM
@ jazzman you got it spot on its not just catwoman & eletra,there is others supergirl,barb wire & witchblade also.
d.c entertainment (please make the following.)
1.powergirl
2.wonder woman
3.supergirl
maybe a powergirl,wonder woman & supergirl team up film.
marvel entertainment (please make the following)
1.ms.marvel
2.black widow
3.spider-woman
i don't think this is to much to ask.

deadpool72 - 2/27/2010, 3:54 PM
@jazzman - Thanks, maybe one day I'll depict Nick Fury into a fan trailer (after the Iron Man II DVD is available, so I can re-use the footage!).
EditNinja - 2/27/2010, 4:31 PM
@deadpool72

yeah too many failed female comic books movies. they need to find a good directed, writter and producer to create a good female comic book movies.

@EditNinja

cool i cant wait for that. also i watched your other fan made trailer i like the Black Panther trailer, Green Lantern TV Spot was sick nice that you added the Stealth clip you should make a longer trailer lol.

also Gerard Butler is The Punisher -Trailer is perfect if i saw that as a trailer with that music i would of watched it in the cinema. keep up the good work EditNinja and becareful with them copyright stuff since these studio like to remove a video or music from fan trailers.
jazzman - 2/27/2010, 6:05 PM
With all the terrible cbm's we've seen over the last 10 years I don't understand why all of you get so excited everytime another one is announced.

I can't wait for the next Batman flick, and Iron Man 2 should be pretty good, but Nolan & Favs have proven themselves.
magic8 - 2/28/2010, 4:51 AM
@magic8

what are you on you forget that the site is called comicbookmovie.com
jazzman - 2/28/2010, 5:20 AM
@magic8

That's like going to a meeting for porn addicts and asking them why they get so excited over vaginas.

We're nerds. It's what we do (about movies, not vaginas(...ok maybe both)).
ElBeaster - 2/28/2010, 10:50 AM
@ magic8 i don't think they were all bad,i could name a few are from the last ten years that are the best from their genre.
1.the dark knight.
2.x-men 2.
3.sin city.
4.ironman.
5.batman begins.
6.spider-man 2
7.watchmen.
8.battle royale.
9.nightwatch/daywatch
10.hellboy 2
11.30 days of night.
the thing that people get excited about is from child to adulthood i've had a love of comic books/graphic novels & often dreamt of seeing them on a big screen in a live action film,it sort of brings the comic book to life.
if liking comic books,films,video games or porn makes me a nerd then hey i must be a nerd,but i know a load of people that have never read a comic book,but still can't wait for the next batman film.
(as for porn i get more excited on how the young lady looks & performs than getting excited on how nice her vagina looks.)
deadpool72 - 2/28/2010, 1:51 PM
@ Jazzman: Thanks very much, man!...More soon!
EditNinja - 2/28/2010, 3:08 PM


if there was a Black Widow film it would be a great way to introduce Hawkeye..Kevin Feige is aiming to make the spin-off as long as people want to see it...
ChristopherM - 2/28/2010, 7:46 PM
@ christopherM great video,some very good casting choices.i'm up for a black widow film.
deadpool72 - 3/1/2010, 1:38 AM
I come here more do to being a comic book fan.

I'm a geek too, but I'm also a pessimist. I'd love if every cbm were as good as Batman Begins & Iron Man, but we all know that's not the case.
magic8 - 3/1/2010, 4:40 AM
deadpool72

Whenever I talk about the quality of cbm I'm usually referring to the mainstream/iconic stuff like Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men, etc, etc.

I thought Watchmen was really good. 300 & 30 Days of Night were great. AND A History of Violence, which most people don't even realize is cbm.

But I thought the X-Men & Spider-Man movies were really bad. I mean they took everything that made these characters great, and strip them of all of it. And horrible, HORRIBLE casting.

It honestly stuns me that these movies are so beloved among the fanboys.
magic8 - 3/1/2010, 4:46 AM
nobody gives a fcuk about a Black Widow movie - a spinoff from Iron Man 2? Not happening.

Why?

because nobody gives a fcuk - that's why.
Keven - 3/1/2010, 12:19 PM
yeah, pretty much.
magic8 - 3/2/2010, 12:03 AM
man i would have sex wit her in till i run out she is so [frick]ing hott
DEADPOOLX00 - 6/27/2010, 9:06 PM

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