Rebecca Hall was one of the highlights of Iron Man 3, bringing in another character with whom Tony Stark could play against while giving viewers more insight into how Tony has changed since they last spoke.
Back in May, Director Shane Black revealed that the Iron Man 2 follow up originally showcased much bigger roles for both Stéphanie Szostak and Rebecca Hall, and Hall’s character, Dr. Maya Hansen, was actually going to be a major adversary for Iron Man. This all changed when Ike Perlmutter (The former Marvel boss infamous for his racist and sexist comments) became concerned that a female villain wouldn’t “sell enough toys”.
While speaking with Postmedia Network (Via Toronto Sun) before the TIFF premiere of her new film, Christine, Hall confirmed that this was “100% true”, going on to elaborate saying
“I signed on to do something that was a substantial role. She wasn’t entirely the villain – there have been several phases of this – but I signed on to do something very different to what I ended up doing.
Halfway through shooting they were basically like, ‘What would you think if you just got shot out of nowhere?’ I was meant to be in the movie until the end… I grappled with them for awhile and then I said, ‘Well, you have to give me a decent death scene and you have to give me one more scene with Iron Man,’ which Robert Downey Jr. supported me on.”
Despite this, Hall believes that with the announcement of Captain Marvel (To be played by Brie Larson), the studio has learned their lesson and wishes them the best.
About Iron Man 3:
Plagued with worry and insomnia since saving New York from destruction, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), now, is more dependent on the suits that give him his Iron Man persona — so much so that every aspect of his life is affected, including his relationship with Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow). After a malevolent enemy known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) reduces his personal world to rubble, Tony must rely solely on instinct and ingenuity to avenge his losses and protect the people he loves.
