Scarlett Johansson
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The Iron Man 2 casting rumors have become a reality.

A rep for Scarlett Johansson has confirmed that actress will play Black Widow in the sequel, which is scheduled for a May  2010 release.

"Scarlett is thrilled to be a part of Iron Man," the rep told E! Online.

Meanwhile, after a series of negotiations, Mickey Rourke has also agreed to his much-rumored role: he'll portray the villain Whiplash.

Iron man 2 will also bring back Gwyneth Paltrow returning as Pepper Potts, along with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Don Cheadle as Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes.

With Emily Blunt having committed to the upcoming Gulliver's Travels, her previously-announced role in Iron Man 2 is now up in the air.

So, who might replace Blunt in the sequel?

Marvel is reportedly in discussions with Scarlett Johansson, according to Entertainment Weekly. The studio won't confirm such a rumor, but sources around Hollywood say the actress has met with filmmakers and is interested in taking the role of Russian spy Natasha Romanoff, who doubles as Black Widow.

Iron Man 2 still lacks shooting script and a production date has not yet been determined.

Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson star in The Spirit as Silken Floss and The Octopus, respectively.

In the following video, the actors speak on this Frank Miller-directed movie...

Scarlett Johansson has a pair of movies coming out. Look for her in Vicky Cristina Barcelona later this week and The Spirit on Christmas.

The gorgeous actress spoke to Moviehole.net about both films:

Do you identify with your character in Vicky Cristina Barcelona?
Johansson: I think that I can identify with certain aspects of her philosophy, her sort of 'Seize The Day' attitude and her willingness to let life kind of happen in front of her, and just take a chance and live, live, live, that kind of attitude/ I think that's, I do, I can certainly appreciate that part of her philosophy but we're different, we have our differences as well.

Can you talk about how it was working with such a steamy scene with Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem?
Johansson: It's funny because people are so conservative I mean it's amazing, they really are and when you see the film these characters fall in love and people that fall in love are intimate, and also when you're shooting there's like sixty grown men eating salami sandwiches, kind of waiting for when they can get ready.

You just think 'God are we rolling', because there's like trays of food being passed, oh we are rolling, okay (laughter) you know, nobody cares when you're doing it, of course, it's like your day at work and this is part of the story and then of course you know people get wind and they get excited because they associate like two women who wear gowns at an award show and like gosh, the possibilities, you know? (laughter). But it's ridiculous, of course I go home at the end of the day and I prepare for the next day, it's not like I sat at home.

What was it like working with Frank Miller on The Spirit and also dealing with all of the green screens that you obviously had to do on that?
Johansson: Frank, I loved working with Frank, he's wonderful, he's such a visionary, and so, he's just fantastic, he would come on set and almost lead the whole crew into some kind of presentation. He would draw the storyboard and kind of lead us, he's a visionary, he really is, and it was exciting, I mean it's very exciting to do that, cause everybody disperses, we all know what we're going to do, and he's so excited about the characters, that's his thing, right?

He like creates these fantastic characters and some of them are just so rotten you know, and none of his characters are like so gray, it's like none of us are heroes, they're all kind of gray and I love that.