--- description: The director of Iron Man 3 revealed that the film's villain was changed from female to male after Marvel expressed concerns over toy sales. title: Marvel Changed Gender of Iron Man 3 Villain for Toy Sales, Director Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53f5b892ec01c818/6988935f0b72e3ef436e9673/iron-man-guy-pearce.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Marvel Axed Female Villain in _Iron Man 3_ Over Toy Sale Worries, Director Says  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer May 16, 2016 10:08 PM CUT  Actors Guy Pearce and Robert Downey Jr. attend Marvel's Iron Man 3 Premiere after party at Hard Rock Cafe on April 24, 2013 in Hollywood, California. Actors Guy Pearce and Robert Downey Jr. attend Marvel's Iron Man 3 Premiere after party at Hard Rock Cafe on April 24, 2013 in Hollywood, California.Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer May 16, 2016 10:08 PM CUT The gender of the villain in [_Iron Man 3_](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/04/30/iron-man-three-tony-stark-saves-the-world-gets-a-heart/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") was [changed from female](http://time.com/3075927/marvel-kevin-feige-guardians-of-the-galaxy-black-widow/?iid=sr-link5 "undefined") to male after [Marvel](http://time.com/4319823/captain-america-civil-war-marvel-movies-next/?iid=sr-link4 "undefined") reportedly expressed concerns over toy sales, according to director Shane Black in a recent interview with [Uproxx](http://uproxx.com/movies/shane-black-the-nice-guys-iron-man-3/ "undefined"). Black says the character of Aldrich Killian — a role that eventually went to Guy Pearce — was originally written for a woman. “There was an early draft of _Iron Man 3_ where we had an inkling of a problem,” he said. “Which is that we had a female character who was the villain in the draft. We had finished the script and we were given a no-holds-barred memo saying that cannot stand and we’ve changed our minds because, after consulting, we’ve decided that toy won’t sell as well if it’s a female.” **Read More:** [Marvel CEO Says in Leaked Email That Female Superhero Movies Have Been a ‘Disaster’](http://time.com/3847432/marvel-ceo-leaked-email/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") Black went on to say that the decision had nothing to do with current Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. “Now, that’s not Feige,” he said. “In the earlier draft, the woman was essentially Killian – and they didn’t want a female Killian, they wanted a male Killian. I liked the idea, like _Remington Steele_, you think it’s the man but at the end, the woman has been running the whole show. They just said, ‘no way.'” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4337908/marvel-iron-man-3-female-villain-toy-sales/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4337908/marvel-iron-man-3-female-villain-toy-sales/"},"headline":"Marvel Axed Female Villain in Iron Man 3 Over Toy Sale Worries, Director Says","datePublished":"2016-05-16T22:08:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:32:27.975Z","description":"\"That toy won’t sell as well if it’s a female\"","url":"https://time.com/4337908/marvel-iron-man-3-female-villain-toy-sales/","keywords":["movies","Newsfeed","Marvel","Iron Man"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53f5b892ec01c818/6988935f0b72e3ef436e9673/iron-man-guy-pearce.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt53f5b892ec01c818/6988935f0b72e3ef436e9673/iron-man-guy-pearce.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Marvel's Iron Man 3 Premiere - After Party","caption":"Actors Guy Pearce and Robert Downey Jr. attend Marvel's Iron Man 3 Premiere after party at Hard Rock Cafe on April 24, 2013 in Hollywood, California.","creditText":"Alberto E. 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