Black Widow delayed: 2020 will be first year since 2009 with no MCU film

Eternals, Black Widow releases delayed by Marvel

After careful consideration, Marvel has decided to officially re-arrange its 2020 Marvel movie release schedule once again in wake of COVID-19’s continued impact on the movie industry. With theaters closed still in many parts of the world and ticket sales down in the markets which have gradually reopened their theater doors, Marvel’s parent company, Disney, has decided to delay Black Widow by several months.

As announced by Disney, Black Widow will move from its originally planned Nov. 6, 2020 release date and instead now open on May 7, 2021. The film’s new 2021 release date marks a complete annual delay for the film which was originally intended to open in theaters on May 1, 2020.

With Black Widow on the move to May 2021, Disney was forced to shuffle around its release plans for both Eternals and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings which will each move to new dates as well.

Originally slated to release on May 7, 2021 — i.e. the date now gifted to Black Widow — Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will move to July 9, 2021. Meanwhile, Eternals will move from Feb. 12, 2021, to Nov. 5, 2021, as Marvel looks to keep its release slate in line with its original plans.

When was the last year Marvel did not release an MCU movie?

With Black Widow pushed back to 2021, 2020 will become the year in more than a decade in which no new Marvel Cinematic Universe movie opens in theaters.

For the trivia buffs out there who are curious to know when the last time Marvel did not release a Marvel Cinematic Universe-set film following the launch of the franchise with 2008’s Iron Man, we have to go way back to 2009.

Following the release of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk in 2008, Marvel took a year off before rolling out Iron Man 2 in May 2010. In the years that followed, Marvel’s release schedule gradually increased to its pacing of roughly 2-3 new MCU films released each calendar year.

Although the plan was to keep this momentum going in 2020 with the release of Black Widow and  Eternals, as a result the COVID-19 related delays, 2020 will be the first year since 2009 in which no new Marvel film will open in theaters.

Thoughts on 2020 becoming the first year since 2009 not to feature the release of at least one new Marvel Cinematic Universe movie? Do you think Marvel made the right call in delaying Black Widow until 2021?