MCU: Why Black Widow could still head to Disney Plus in the future

We may not be seeing Black Widow on Disney Plus in the near-future but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

According to new information shared by The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios has no plans to release Black Widow on Disney+. However, a streaming release may not be completely off the table.

Throughout the past year, numerous films that were originally expected to be theatrically released were sent to streaming services due to the coronavirus pandemic. Some notable examples include Disney’s Soul and Mulan, and Warner Bros.’ Wonder Woman 1984 and The Witches. Still, even after all those streaming pivots and numerous release-date delays, there have been certain films that have remained poised as theatrical-only releases. One of them is Marvel Studios’ Black Widow.

Natasha Romanoff’s long-awaited Marvel Cinematic Universe solo adventure was originally scheduled to arrive in May of 2020, but Marvel Studios and Disney were forced to delay the film to November 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic. Some months after its initial delay, Black Widow was pushed back once again, this time to May, 2021. Throughout the delays, a large number of people online have been vocal about wanting the film to be released on Disney+. That desire has remained alive, even after it was reported in late 2020 that such a move would not occur.

Now, however, there’s yet another sign that Black Widow will likely not be releasing on Disney+.

Black Widow is keeping its theatrical release

The Hollywood Reporter published an article discussing the reasons behind studios keeping certain films as theatrical-only releases. In the article, the trade stated that, according to sources, Marvel Studios has no plans to release Black Widow on Disney+, which is yet another sign that Natasha Romanoff’s solo film will first be seen on the big screen.

Taking that bit of information into consideration alongside recent delays for films like No Time to Die and Morbius, another delay may be on the horizon for Black Widow.

Even though we’ve been aware that the chances of Black Widow premiering on Disney’s streaming platform are somewhat slim, this extra bit of news will undoubtedly disappoint those who were excited to see the hero save the world from Taskmaster as soon as possible.

Is keeping Black Widow in theaters a good thing?

Isn’t that the million-dollar question of the day? The short answer is “yes,” because the overall benefits of a theatrical release are significant in magnitude. For starters, there’s the financial side to consider. With MCU budgets usually going over the $100-million mark — and at times well into the 200s — a streaming-service subscription might not be ideal to recoup the financial cost of Black Widow.

Admittedly, one could argue that post-pandemic moviegoing audiences will never be as large as audiences pre-pandemic, as a recent study by the consulting firm Deloitte seems to suggest. Unfortunately, that is a difficult assessment to make at the moment with the pandemic still ongoing. We’ll have to wait and see how things develop to accurately determine how affected movie-theater revenue will be after things return to relative normalcy. As of now, however, movie theaters appear to be the most reliable form of profitability for blockbusters.

Aside from the financial side of things, we also have to consider the possible difference between the impact made by a theatrical release versus a streaming one. Streaming services can be tricky. They require considerable amounts of content to keep their customers entertained, but that same content model can also encourage people to quickly move on from one film to another, making each movie feel like a negligible moment of entertainment as opposed to a memorable experience.

So… is streaming a good option for Black Widow?

Simply put: yes… tentatively. A powerful studio like Disney releasing big-budget films on a streaming platform is still a new concept, so the possibility of a blockbuster like Black Widow hitting Disney+ may understandably not feel right to some. However (and here’s where the counterargument to the “cultural impact in theaters” idea comes), streaming already appears to be a promising destination for films originally destined for movie theaters

A big example is Wonder Woman 1984, which, according to Deadline, ranked #1 in Nielsen’s U.S. streaming ranking following its debut on HBO Max. According to the data provided by Nielsen, the film raked in 2.3 billion minutes of streaming between December 21 and December 27. Disney Plus’ Soul came it an impressive second place with 1.7 billion minutes of streaming following its holiday debut. To put those numbers into perspective, The Office — one of the most beloved and watched shows out there — came in at third place with 1.435 billion minutes streamed.

Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that these numbers are only for one week in December of 2020, and they still don’t negate what we discussed above regarding the different cultural impacts that streaming and theatrical releases have. However, Wonder Woman 1984 and Soul‘s successes shows that streaming could be a viable option for high-profile projects in terms of exposure. Now, before we get too excited about that, the situation is slightly different when it comes to money.

Black Widow carries a hefty budget, and, as mentioned, streaming does not provide the same type of profitability as movie tickets. With millions of people already subscribed to Disney+, it’s unlikely that a few million more subscriptions spread over years will be enough to offset the amount of money spent to make Black Widow. That is especially true when we take into account that Disney is already investing large amounts of money on content for Disney+, which makes profitability from a Black Widow streaming release even less likely.

So, is streaming a good option for Black Widow or not? It depends. As mentioned, streaming premium content like a Marvel Studios film is a new concept. There could be advantages we simply haven’t thought about because the model is still in its infancy. However, as things stand now, a theatrical release seems to be the most reasonable course of action for Disney and Marvel Studios, and it’s understandable why the studios seem willing to delay the film once again over releasing it on Disney+.

Having said all of that…

Could ‘Black Widow’ being delayed again impact the film (and the MCU) negatively?

I would be remiss not to mention a scary possibility for Nat’s solo adventure that some of you, comic book-movie lovers may be thinking about: A new delay leading to a decrease in MCU hype. Given that it’s been almost two years since the franchise’s last big-screen entry — Spider-Man: Far From Home — hit theaters, it’s not an unreasonable thing to consider. Fortunately, there’s no need to panic. While predicting the outcome of another Black Widow delay is tricky, looking at the current standing of the MCU and the anticipation shown for Black Widow, both the franchise and the film are unlikely to suffer from a decreased audience-hype level. And there’s a simple explanation for that.

12 years into its franchise-building journey (has it really been that long?!), Marvel Studios has become a precious commodity. To give you an idea of the franchise’s power, take characters like Ant-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy as examples. People didn’t necessarily gravitate toward the film adaptations of those previously-unknown properties just because of the characters themselves. Arguably, a big reason for why audiences were interested in those franchises was that Marvel Studios turned its logo into a seal of quality after years of successful and carefully-crafted properties. With that kind of goodwill, at this point, people are excited to watch the latest theatrical chapter in the MCU regardless of when it comes out, simply because it’s the MCU.

A Disney+ release may still be on the table for Black Widow

Still, with all of that said, if you’re one of the people that is incredibly excited by the prospect of Black Widow being released on streaming, there might still be hope. Recently, Variety published an article discussing which 2021 films would be delayed and which ones would be put on streaming platforms. In the article, the trade stated that a new delay for Black Widow was more likely than a “last-ditch Disney+ release.”

The wording of that sentence is quite interesting, because in the same piece, Variety mentioned that the upcoming day-and-date release of Raya and the Last Dragon in both Disney+ and movie theaters would impact the way the studio handled a number of its currently-unreleased films.

It’s unclear exactly which projects the performance of Raya and the Last Dragon could impact, but it’s worth keeping an eye on the film to see whether it will have an effect on the release strategy for Black Widow.

Black Widow is scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 7, 2021.

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Would you like to see Black Widow go to Disney Plus or do you think it needs a theatrical release? Let us know in the comments below!

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