Marvel Studio's Black Widow is still unlikely to skip theaters and head directly to Disney+.
Based on information gathered by theatre sources, there are currently "no plans" to cancel Black Widow's theatrical run and send it straight to Disney's streaming platform, as reported by THR. The source also suggested that the Mouse House isn't considering releasing Black Widow in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access on the same day, like what they're doing with Raya and the Last Dragon.
Black Widow was originally scheduled to open in May 2020, kicking off Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the film was pushed back to the following November. Recently, Black Widow was delayed a second time to its current theatrical release on May 7.
During a recent interview, Marvel Studios President and Marvel Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige said he's hopeful Black Widow's May theatrical release will stick but knows better than to promise anything. "I mean, confidence is meaningless in today's world because nobody knows anything. Hope springs eternal," Feige explained. "A year delay, you hope would be enough, there's a vaccine out there now. We'll see. I certainly hope so. I want to be back in the theater with people."
Given the uncertainty about when movie theater attendance will return to something resembling pre-pandemic levels, several tentpole films have seen their release dates delayed this month. Sony pushed Ghostbusters: Afterlife back from June to November while also shifting Uncharted and Morbius out of this year entirely and into early 2022. Elsewhere, the next James Bond film, No Time to Die, was bumped from April to October and A Quiet Place Part II shuffled from April to September.
Should Black Widow move its release date again, the MCU won't be in dire need of new content. WandaVision is currently streaming on Disney+ through March, and the streaming service will debut The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as soon as it's done, with the Loki series expected to follow.
Directed by Cate Shortland, Black Widow stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, O-T Fagbenle as Mason and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff. The film arrives in theaters May 7, 2021.
Source: THR