Black Widow will undoubtedly be the biggest blockbuster release of summer 2021, but when will we see it? It’s currently scheduled to be released on July 9th in the United States, and that seems set to be the final date. That certainty comes because Marvel has announced a simultaneous theatrical and streaming release, via Premier Access on Disney Plus.
Article updated March 24 2021
July 9th 2021 is already the fourth official release date that the Black Widow movie has had. Originally it was scheduled for May 1st 2020 but the coronavirus made that a no go. It was then delayed until November 6th 2020, a date originally earmarked for Eternals. With so much uncertainty caused by the pandemic, that date became increasingly unlikely and Black Widow was put all the way back to its current release date of May 7th 2021. Now Disney has decided to postpone again, using the slot in July previously held by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings, which has moved back to September.
The fact that Disney has been patient enough to wait a whole year may well have been shaped by the plight of Tenet, one of the most anticipated movies of last summer. Warner Bros and that movies director, Christopher Nolan, pushed through with a theatrical release and the movie massively underperformed compared to what you’d expect from a Nolan movie. With a worldwide box office of just over $360m, the movie made a loss, based on a $200 production budget and expected marketing costs.
Black Widow reportedly has a similar production budget and Disney will be keen to make that back, which means waiting for now. Here in the UK cinemas will not be open until May 17th at the earliest. In the US, whilst many cinemas are now open, the majority are operating at a limited capacity. The situation is similar around the world, only adding to the uncertainty of planning a global release.
After 23 movies in 11 years, there was talk of superhero fatigue, and how much Marvel is too much Marvel? Now as we approach two years since the last MCU movie, Spider-man Far From Home, when Black Widow finally arrives it may well benefit from a pent up demand. If nothing else the break happened at a convenient point in the MCU timeline, as Phase 3 ended. Phase 4 has kicked off with WandaVision, now we just need a movie!
Check out our Black Widow preview, including the characters journey through the MCU so far!
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