Black Widow will release simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access
By Lacy Baugher
Well, it probably had to happen eventually. After pushing back Black Widow’s theatrical release date for over a year due to the coronavirus pandemic that shut down movie theaters and kept audiences at home worldwide, Disney has finally blinked.
The highly anticipated Natasha Romanoff solo feature will now officially hit theaters on July 9, but more importantly, it will also arrive on Disney+ the same day, as a premium VOD release with a hefty $30 price tag attached. This is the same model that the streamer followed for the releases of Mulan and Raya and the Last Dragon, and while it hasn’t released official numbers for either title, the effort must have generated enough business for Disney to keep experimenting with for the time being.
Upcoming live-action prequel 101 Dalmations prequel Cruella starring Emma Stone is also getting a simultaneous theatrical and Disney+ release, with a similar $30 premium price tag. Welcome to the future of cinema, folks!
And that’s not all. Black Widow’s move has once again sent a ripple effect down through the rest of Marvel’s Phase 4. Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which was originally set to release on July 9, has moved to September 3 where it is expected to have a traditional theatrical bow. (Which…isn’t that what we said about Black Widow?)
Marvel’s Eternals is currently slated to release on November 5, just two months after the new date for Shang Chi, with Spiderman: No Way Home scheduled for December 17. And, trust me, I want to believe that we’re actually going to get three Marvel movies in four months – but I really won’t be surprised if Spiderman or Eternals somehow slides into 2022. (And before anyone asks, no, there’s no word that anything like that might happen. It’s just a suspicion.)
Black Widow was originally supposed to hit theaters on May 1, 2020, and has been delayed three times thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. It stars Scarlett Johansson and takes place after the events of 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. The film will introduce Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, a character many expect to take up the Black Widow mantle in the wake of Natasha’s death in Avengers: Endgame.
Next. Marvel’s Black Widow movie is five years too late. dark
Will you be seeing Black Widow in a theater or watching it on Disney+? Sound off in the comments.