Black Widow’s Delay Is The Best Thing To Happen For The Movie

Marvel Studios has been forced to delay Black Widow‘s release date by several months due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the wait could be the best thing to happen to Scarlett Johansson’s solo movie. Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been interested in a Black Widow movie ever since she debuted in 2010’s Iron Man 2. Despite the support from fans and some involved with the MCU, it wasn’t until 2018 that Marvel began truly working on the film. The secrecy surrounding what happened in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, though, meant that a solo film for Natasha Romanoff wasn’t confirmed until 2019.

Black Widow was selected to kick off Phase 4 of the MCU with a May 1, 2020 release date, but Marvel has had to delay the film by six months due to theater closures worldwide. But the excitement for Black Widow paled in comparison to more recent MCU movies even before the delay. The fact that it is a prequel set between Natasha’s appearances in Captain America: Civil War and Infinity War dampened some anticipation. Meanwhile, the knowledge of how her arc ends in Endgame means that the film will primarily fill in gaps in Black Widow’s life instead of setting her up for additional adventures. Even the trailers for Black Widow left some feeling underwhelmed about how Marvel decided to start Phase 4. The release delay for Black Widow doesn’t eliminate such concerns, but it could help fans naturally get more excited for it.

Marvel was just beginning to ramp up the final stage of marketing when coronavirus shut down movie theaters around the world and left them with no other choice than to delay Black Widow. The move was expected for some time, but fans debated how long the delay would be for. Disney ultimately pushed the release for Black Widow back to November 6, 2020, resulting in the film taking Eternals‘ release date and forcing almost the entirety of Phase 4 to be reshuffled. This will result in fans enduring the second-longest gap between MCU movies ever, with Black Widow currently scheduled to be released 16 months after Spider-Man: Far From Home.

With a nearly unprecedented MCU drought, both hardcore fans and more casual movie-going audiences could be even more excited for Black Widow come November. This could even be amplified as countries around the world (hopefully) continue to lift restrictions, with movie theaters able to operate at near-full strength again by the time Black Widow is released. After months of quarantine, working from home, and limited social interactions, a return to the theater to see the start of Phase 4 of the biggest movie franchise of all-time starring one of the original Avengers could be exactly what MCU fans and general audiences alike will want.

The anticipation for Black Widow could rise even more if The Falcon and The Winter Soldier doesn’t debut on Disney+ ahead of the film’s release. Since the show hasn’t finished production and was originally scheduled to come out after Black Widow (possibly to build on some of the film’s revelations), the delay to Marvel’s Disney+ start looks probable. This will mean that the final season of Agents of SHIELD could then be the only piece of MCU content to arrive in nearly a year and a half, but the show only has a niche following and might not even be in the MCU anymore. Although Black Widow would already be out in theaters in a normal world, the level of desire that MCU fans will have for new content in November could help the film be an even bigger hit at the end of the day.