Mike Ryan interviewed Shane Black, the director of Iron Man 3:

• In the original script for Iron Man 3 the main villain of the movie had been female.
• However, the head of Marvel forced the writers to make them male because they were afraid that a female action figure wouldn’t sell as well.
• Concerns that people don’t buy action figures of females is also why Black Widow doesn’t really have her own action figure, and why comic cartoons usually have a very specific type of humour.
• There is hope. The head of Marvel Studios who made the “no main female villain” decision has since left the company and been replaced.

Read the full interview that’s focused on Black’s latest cinematic project, The Nice Guys, here.

Source: Uproxx