Made In Hollywood

"Compared to the vampire woman in Underworld, my character is still considered a normal person." After finishing her makeup, Scarlett Johansson stood next to Duke, watching the crew from other departments busily adjust the equipment. It seemed like her old habit of being talkative was starting to resurface. "Selene is almost a thousand years old, while Natasha Romanoff is not even a hundred yet." She pulled a face and said to Duke, "Why does my character have to be so old?"

Duke couldn't be bothered to respond and didn't even turn his head.

"Is the Selene-type female character the trend now?" Scarlett seemed to be talking to herself, yet her voice was just loud enough for Duke to hear. "Selene is on the cold and glamorous route, which is very different from Natasha Romanoff's style."

"You're absolutely right," Duke finally spoke, "Natasha Romanoff and Selene are two completely different types of characters."

Perhaps sensing the seriousness in Duke's tone, Scarlett Johansson also switched to a more professional attitude. "My character is a close-combat expert..."

"Not entirely accurate, Scarlett," Duke was clearly discussing the character with her. "Natasha Romanoff is not just a close-combat expert; she's a killing machine. She received intense training from the former Soviet Union, learning lethal offensive techniques. She even fought alongside Captain America on the battlefield of World War II and has seen enough cruelty and bloodshed..."

Unlike the former version of Agent Natasha Romanoff, Duke based her character setting on the comic book depiction.

Like Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff had also been used in experiments by the former Soviet Union and Hydra, making her an ageless monster.

Of course, Duke still retained some widely popular elements, such as Natasha Romanoff teasing quite a few upcoming superheroes.

However, this female agent would hold to one fundamental principle love is for children and there would be no melodramatic and cringeworthy romance plots.

Since shooting wouldn't begin for a while, Scarlett stood next to Duke and discussed various aspects of the character and film with him.

Duke also directly told her his expectations, "Scarlett, your character is as deadly as her nickname."

"Are you sure a female character like this will be well-received?"

Hearing Scarlett's question, Duke simply said, "Who doesn't like watching a beautiful and sexy woman in an action scene?"

"True, Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider and Kate Beckinsale's Underworld both had decent reactions." Scarlett seemed to think of something and added, "I heard DC Comics and Warner Bros are also planning to make a live-action Wonder Woman movie."

"Not for now." Duke shook his head. "I vetoed that."

Knowing Duke had a say in DC's comic film projects, Scarlett couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why?"

"Because Diana Prince is different from Lara Croft, Selene, and Natasha Romanoff. Her character is heavily infused with feminist ideologies."

At this point, Duke gave a brief explanation. "Why did Diana Prince become the most famous female superhero? It's not just because she debuted early it's also due to her undeniable feminist label."

"But her comics are really popular," Scarlett responded.

Duke crossed his arms and continued explaining the reasoning, "Comics and movies are completely different mediums. The latter delivers a more direct and impactful experience. Though the female audience is on the rise sometimes even accounting for up to sixty percent in romance or light comedy films superhero movies require massive investments, and relying solely on female viewers can't support the market."

"How to handle Diana Prince's feminist ideology and statements will be a big challenge," Duke added. "If we stick to the comic book setting, we'll inevitably lose many male viewers. But if we ditch the feminist aspect, the comic book fans and feminist organizations are bound to make a lot of noise."

"So the live-action Wonder Woman is being scrapped?" Scarlett sounded somewhat unwilling.

Duke shook his head. "I wouldn't say scrapped it's just not the right time. There will be opportunities in the future."

Movies are heavily influenced by the social climate. As the feminist movement continues to rise, feminist films that aren't well received by the mainstream market now will inevitably see changes in the future.

Strictly speaking, among the Trinity of Justice, Wonder Woman is indeed the most difficult to film, even more so than Superman.Diana Prince's demigod identity already affects audience immersion, and her various ideologies and lines that place her above men clash with this male-dominated society.

"We're ready."

The assistant director's notification broke Duke's train of thought. He nodded at Scarlett Johansson and returned behind the director's monitor.

Dressed in a tight agent suit, Scarlett Johansson found action director Jimmy Carter, who would be responsible for the upcoming action scenes.

This part of the shoot wasn't complex. It depicted the final battle, where Agent Coulson attempted to arrest Obadiah Stane but was ambushed by the Iron Monger under his control. After Iron Man arrived to support him, they were surrounded by mercenaries. Natasha Romanoff, undercover at Stark Industries, arrived just in time and used close-combat skills to eliminate and drive away the mercenaries, rescuing Pepper Potts and Agent Coulson.

Filming began quickly. Like all action scenes, Natasha Romanoff's fight sequence was broken down into countless fragments the longest shots lasted just over ten seconds, and the shortest were barely over a second. Apart from the actors' pre-training and rehearsals, most action scenes in films rely heavily on post-production editing.

Whether it's Hong Kong films or Hollywood action movies, unedited raw action scenes usually look pathetically fake.

Jimmy Carter, having learned from Yuen Woo-ping, fused elements from Hong Kong cinema into modern combat. After honing through several films, he had gradually matured in this craft. He specially designed some fierce and direct fighting techniques tailored for Scarlett, matching the comic book feel.

Natasha Romanoff's action scenes had no frills every move was meant to kill. All the gear she carried was designed by the props team to be lethal tools perfect for close combat.

According to normal standards, such fighting styles wouldn't look good on screen unless they were paired with heavy-blood scenes. But this film could never go that route if it did, the PG-13 rating would be lost. If the film were rated R, a massive number of teenage viewers would be lost.

Yet after a day of filming ended, Duke did a simple cut of the footage and found, just as he expected, that Natasha Romanoff's action scenes were extremely compelling. If her screen time hadn't been so limited, she might have even stolen the spotlight from the main character, Tony Stark.

The reason was very, very simple. Those sharp combat moves may seem straightforward and not all that visually exciting, but once they were performed by Scarlett Johansson, everything changed.

A sexy and beautiful woman, using extremely fierce techniques to fight and weave her way through enemies several times her number how pleasing was that to the eye?

In Duke's opinion, Scarlett Johansson was more than enough to make many hormone-driven teenage boys have massive nosebleeds.

Of course, only a very small portion of these action scenes were performed by Scarlett herself.

In fact, it was quite easy to tell. Any shot with a clear facial close-up was done by Scarlett Johansson herself. Those rear, side, or hair-covered shots were all handled by two stunt doubles.

Among the two stunt doubles, one was even a male whose back silhouette was extremely similar to Scarlett's, specifically responsible for completing those particularly difficult moves.

When the film hits theaters, those male viewers drooling over Scarlett Johansson's sexy back will never guess that the object of their fantasies at that moment was actually a man.

But this is the magic of movies. This is the effect movies bring.

Though months of pre-production had gone into it, Scarlett's screen time wasn't particularly abundant. After all, this movie was called Iron Man, not Black Widow. She was merely one of the key characters linking the Avengers together.

Among the characters appearing in this installment, aside from Natasha Romanoff, Agent Coulson, and their superior Nick Fury, some of Tony Stark's lines also mention stories from his father's past such as how Howard Stark not only fought side by side with Steve Rogers but was also close friends with him…

However, this was just the beginning of a major series. Many things were merely touched upon lightly without too much explanation, since there would be a series of future films to be produced.

After about ten days of shooting, Scarlett Johansson's scenes gradually wrapped up.

The set was pitch black. A sliver of dawn light streamed in through the window. Scarlett Johansson stood beside Samuel L. Jackson in his Nick Fury costume.

"Mr. Stark, do you think you're the only superhero in the world?"

Facing this question, Robert Downey Jr. shifted his gaze toward Scarlett Johansson, "I've never thought that. Isn't there a female superhero standing right next to you?"

He put on a slightly angry expression, "Why did you come undercover into my company? Who exactly are you?"

"I'm someone worthy of your trust." Scarlett Johansson looked straight at him, as if searching for the shadow of someone else, but eventually gave up and said, "I once fought alongside your father Howard Stark and Captain America Steve Rogers…"

"That's impossible," Tony Stark looked shocked.

Scarlett handed him a few photos. On them was a giant green figure going berserk on an ice field. "While tracking him, we discovered a plane under the glacier. We need your help we need you to wear the Iron Man suit and dive into the ice to rescue your father's closest comrade!"

Undoubtedly, this was the Easter egg Duke had prepared for the film.

...

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