Emily Blunt Could Play Villain in THE HUNTSMAN, Frank Darabont Out

Emily Blunt was once in line to play Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it looks like she'll be uniting with Thor on the big screen for an entirely different franchise. The Wrap reports that Blunt is in negotiations to play the villain in The Huntsman, the spin-off of Snow White and The Huntsman, opposite Chris Hemsworth. Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist) was slated to direct, but he bailed on the project citing "creative differences" as his reason for exiting. No replacement director has been found yet, but someone should reportedly be announced this week.

The plot for this film follows Eric (Hemsworth), the huntsman who protected Snow White in the first film, as he's sent on a quest to find the stolen magic mirror. Though Charlize Theron's evil queen died in the first film, the actress will return to reprise her role this time, and if Blunt's deal goes through, she'll play Theron's sister, the evil Snow Queen. I'm a huge Emily Blunt fan, but I'm actually hoping that this deal doesn't stick. I didn't particularly care for Snow White and the Huntsman, and I'm not convinced that was a story that needs to be stretched into a franchise. Hemsworth was fine as the Huntsman, but I really don't want to spend an entire movie following that character around, and I'd much rather see Blunt put her considerable talents into a different project altogether.

The Huntsman hits theaters on April 22nd, 2016.