With Chris Evans now locked and loaded as Captain America, momentum is building to cast the property’s female lead.

Marvel has been heavily courting Emily Blunt to play the main character’s girlfriend, reported previously as Peggy Carter. The studio, sources say, has made an offer to Blunt and wants her for the part — but expect someone else to wind up in the role in the end.

According to sources, Blunt is close to signing on to other projects and will turn down Marvel’s offer. That leaves the studio to decide between several other people on its short list, including Keira Knightley and Alice Eve — both of whom, not coincidentally given the film’s global designs, also come with British bona fides.Sources now confirm that Blunt has officially passed. There will be no Victorian charm amid the dueling WWII-era superheroes.

Casting a female lead in most superhero films is in many ways harder than nabbing the male one. You have the luxury (or necessity) of using the part to expand the prospective audience. But you also have the tough job of convincing the person who can provide the expansion that playing the girlfriend in an effects-heavy blockbuster is something that’s worth their time.

It might be wiser to go the Bond Girl route and cast, say, a lesser-known but still rising star (Gemma Arterton, also British, comes to mind) and create a buzz that way, instead of going with a widely known quantity … although we have to admit that watching an award-winning prestige actress play the part would be interesting, to say the least.

Source: LA Times

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