Marvel Studios has announced a new release date for its next superhero film in its lineup, Black Widow.
The film, which stars Scarlett Johansson as the titular spy and assassin-turned-Avenger, was initially set to be released on May 1, but was pulled from the schedule due to continuing theater closures amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Black Widow will now bow on November 6, 2020, the spot that the studio had reserved for the next film on its slate, The Eternals.
(This move will undoubtedly come as a surprise to the rumor mongers who were predicting that Disney would take Black Widow and bypass a theatrical release in order to make it available for rental and purchase via Video On Demand.)
The movie is just the start of a cascade down Marvel’s release schedule throughout its Phase Four set of films, as each film in line is bumped down to the next spot. Thus, The Eternals is moving down to February 12, 2021, the spot formerly reserved for Shang Chi And The legend Of The Ten Rings. Shang Chi, meanwhile, now slides down to May 7, 2021 and pushes Doctor Strange And the Multiverse Of Madness to November 5, 2021. Doctor Strange‘s move now pushes Thor: Love And Thunder from November 2021 to February 18, 2022.
Marvel has also taken the moment to announce the first film that will be released after Thor: Love And Thunder and that will be Captain Marvel 2 which will hit theaters on July 8, 2022. Originally, Marvel had an untitled movie on their release calendar set for July 29, 2022.
Interestingly, there is no information on any of the Marvel Studios content being created for the Disney+ streaming service being rescheduled. Three series – Loki, WandaVision and The Falcon And The Winter Soldier – were all in production when coroavirus concerns closed down their sets. More so than the previous television offerings from Marvel, this new batch of Disney+ streaming series were going to tie-in tighter to the films. WandaVision was especially noted as having a strong tie-in to Doctor Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness. It should be expected that these shows will have their release windows adjusted appropriately as well.
