Originally published March 23, 2021. Updated March 24, 2021.
The move has felt as inevitable as Thanos in the MCU, but Black Widow has finally fallen to Disney+. The latest Marvel Studios film, the first solo outing for Scarlett Johansson’s character, will now debut on the streamer while it also opens in theaters.
This move comes with a slight delay as Black Widow will no longer open on May 7th and has been pushed back two months to July 9th. Marvel Studios usually follows a strict schedule, which means Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will now move from its July date to September 3rd.
This film is not the only upcoming Disney project that has to face this move as Craig Gillespie’s Cruella will debut on Disney and in cinemas on May 28th. Both titles will be offered on Premier Access, which comes with a $30 rental fee.
Kareem Daniel, the chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment distribution, says the announcement “reflects our focus on providing consumer choice and serving the evolving preferences of audiences.” Daniel continues, “By leveraging a flexible distribution strategy in a dynamic marketplace that is beginning to recover from the global pandemic, we will continue to employ the best options to deliver The Walt Disney Company’s unparalleled storytelling to fans and families around the world.”
Another move made by Disney here is pushing Pixar’s Luca out of theaters and now launching exclusively on Disney Plus, for no extra fee, on June 18th.
Disney’s Fox line-up is also shifting a bit, but staying in cinemas for now. Free Guy will premiere on August 13th, The King’s Man on December 22nd, the Ben Affleck-led Deep Water on January 14th, 2022, and finally Death on the Nile moves to February 11th 2022.
In Marvel Studios’ action-packed spy thriller “Black Widow,” Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
Black Widow is being directed by Cate Shortland (Lore) and sees Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as Natasha Romanoff alongside Florence Pugh (Fighting With My Family) as Yelena Belova, O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale) as Mason, David Harbour (Stranger Things) as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Rachel Weisz (The Favourite) as Melina Vostokoff/Iron Maiden, Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast) as Dreykov and Olivier Richters (The King’s Man) in an as-yet-unrevealed role.
