It’s been pretty much a year at this point that Marvel has continued to push back Black Widow, its first cinematic offering in Phase 4 of the MCU. And while there are hopes that cinemas will be open more widely later in the year, the film’s latest release date push-back comes with another bit of news that’s in some ways surprising, and in other ways not: as well as coming to the big screen, it’s also getting a simultaneous Disney+ release with a Premier Access price point.
Disney has confirmed that Black Widow’s current – and surely final – release date is 9 July. On that day, it’ll come to cinemas where possible, and also be available for an additional fee on Disney+. The film brings back Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow is set before that crucial moment in Avengers: Endgame) while also introducing Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, fighting against the villainous Taskmaster. Check out the new poster that’s arrived along with the release update.
It’s an interesting move from Disney – this is the third film it’s put on its streaming service with a pay bump, following Mulan and Raya And The Last Dragon, and while this one really was designed to be seen on the big screen, the prospect of a simultaneous cinema and digital release speaks to the fact that cinemas likely won’t be fully back to normal this summer, even when they do open again. Crucially, with UK cinemas currently scheduled to reopen from 17 May, there’s a strong chance Marvel fans here will get to go and see Black Widow where she belongs – and there’s a good buffer there in case the grand cinema re-opening is delayed until later in the summer.
Still, it’ll be interesting to see how Black Widow fares on its home release, especially next to Marvel’s Disney+ series like WandaVision and The Falcon And The Winter Soldier.