Scarlett Johansson reveals how and when Marvel will release Black Widow

Black Widow has suffered a number of delays over the past five months and now its leading lady has opened up about when and how Marvel really plans to release the film.

2020 brought the world to a standstill. That’s not a figure of speech or an overly dramatic intro; the year literally ground the world to a halt due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. And, like so many other industries, Hollywood was impacted a great deal as movie theaters across the globe were closed and countless planned movie releases were rescheduled to a much later, safer date. One of those films was Black Widow.

The 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow was designed to give the spotlight to Marvel’s most badass female hero: Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow. It still will do all of that; it will just come much later than initially anticipated.

How does Marvel plan to release Black Widow?

Black Widow is now expected to hit theaters on May 7, 2021. Some thought it was too far off while others had suspicions about whether or not it will release on the new date. Nonetheless, it is a long while off so it’s too early to speculate anything, really. And the leading lady herself has spoken about when the film will actually hit theaters, confirming that Marvel Studios plans on doing right by fans by prioritizing their safety.

Speaking to Marie Claire, she commented:

"“I’d been talking to Kevin Feige about it, and our fellow producers, just trying to understand what the landscape was… We’re all eager to get the movie out, but more important than anything, everybody wants the experience to feel safe, to have people be able to really feel confident about sitting in an enclosed theater.”"

Marvel Studios are clearly committed to ensuring that their movies – which are always large draws – are only released at a time when they can guarantee peoples’ safety. Black Widow was supposed to be released earlier this year – on May 1 to be exact – but after being delayed indefinitely, it was rescheduled to November (bumping up fellow MCU installment Eternals into Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ slot) and when it became clear that it still wouldn’t be safe for fans, it was delayed again until May next year.

Though fans hoped it might end up on Disney Plus (like Mulan did), it’s clear that Marvel wants their films to continue to be viewed on as a big a screen as possible – provided it’s safe for fans to do so, that is.

Are you looking forward to Black Widow? Let us know in the comments below!