Another day, another bit of Iron Man heresay to cross the Internet. 

 

Though we still have a little over a week before The Avengers blasts across your nearest movie scene, wheels are spinning on a third Iron Man, which begins filming in North Carolina in weeks. Robert Downey Jr. is reprising his role of Tony Stark, and he’s expected to be joined by franchise regulars Gwyneth Paltrow (as Pepper Potts) and Don Cheadle (as James "Rhodey" Rhodes). 

        

But now we’re hearing Scarlett Johansson might not be coming back into the Iron Man fold to play Black Widow, as she did in Iron Man 2 (and plans to do in Avengers). 

 

Johansson told the Web site ScreenRant that she’d like to see a standalone Widow movie instead of shoehorning her into a third Iron Man movie.

 

"I think that you build this character in the hopes that the fans are like, 'We want more,'" Johansson said. "I personally think there's an awesome Black Widow movie in there, that is like a kind of Bourne type of film, that would take the whole comic-book genre in a completely different direction."

 

Can’t she do both? The beauty of this expanded, on-screen Marvel universe is that characters now can cross in and out of each other’s adventures. I’m still hoping we get to a point where heroes like Spider-Man, Wolverine or The Fantastic Four can end up in an Iron Man or Thor movie, the way they did on the comic books. Yes, that could be a logistical nightmare in terms of casting (and contracts). But why bother building these types of franchises if you don’t want to use them to push the envelope.

 

As for a Black Widow movie, I’m sure it’s totally possible. A Hawkeye movie, as well. But right now, only Iron Man, Captain America and Thor are due to get their own films, followed by The Avengers 2. So if it happens, it won’t be for some time.

 

Maybe Johansson can kill time by appearing in Iron Man 3 after all? Sound off below and on Twitter @Sean_OConnell and @Fandango.