When Marvel Studios pushed “Black Widow” from May 2020 to November 2020, due to the pandemic, the thought was that the whole world will have this whole COVID thing figured out in a few months. Well, that didn’t happen. Then Marvel decided the best way to play it safe would be to push the film from November 2020 to May 2021. Obviously, the pandemic would be long gone by this spring, right? Right? Not even close. Now, Marvel Studios has figured out what to do with “Black Widow,” so that this multi-billion dollar MCU train can get back on track.
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According to Disney, “Black Widow” is moving to a July 9 release date according to THR. But there’s a bit of a caveat. A Disney+ caveat. As many expected, the first Marvel Studios feature film since 2019 will find itself released on Disney+ as a Premier Access title, similarly to how the studio released “Mulan” and “Raya and the Last Dragon.”
But that doesn’t mean theaters are left out in the cold. Much like those previous two films, Disney is going to release “Black Widow” on Disney+ and in select theaters on the same date. This allows fans who want to see the feature on the big screen access to do so, where available.
Obviously, this move is going to result in a massive change in box office projections for “Black Widow.” The film was likely looking at a billion-dollar box office gross, but with this hybrid streaming/theatrical model, those grosses will be far less than expectations. Of course, this isn’t a make-or-break deal with Marvel Studios, as the Kevin Feige-led company has plenty of hits to justify taking a box office loss on this one. And honestly, Disney needs to do whatever it can to get more Marvel Studios content out there to keep the momentum going.
“Black Widow” was supposed to be the start of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (that distinction ended up going to “WandaVision” earlier this year) and offer a send-off for one of the founding ‘Avengers’ stars, Scarlett Johansson. The film is a prequel that finally gives some much-needed backstory on Natasha Romanoff and seemingly sets up her successor, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh).
Joining Johansson and Pugh in the cast are David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz. “Black Widow” is directed by Cate Shortland, who is best known for her previous films ‘Somersault,” “Lore,” and “Berlin Syndrome.”
And now that “Black Widow” is seemingly in its final resting place on the release schedule, Marvel Studios can start the film side of Phase 4, which is also supposed to include “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Eternals,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” and several more over the next few years.
“Black Widow” will be released on July 9, 2021, on Disney+ Premiere Access and theatrically at the same time.