What Black Widow's Movie Delay Means For Marvel Phase 4

Disney has officially delayed Black Widow due to the coronavirus pandemic. While Disney had already delayed a number of other wide-release movies, they were holding steady to releasing Black Widow and starting the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in May 2020.

Disney held so tight to this release date for so long because pushing back Black Widow affects the entire MCU. For most movies, a delay impacts just the movie itself and maybe a potential sequel (such as the year-long delay of Fast and Furious 9). This is a much bigger deal, likely to have repercussions throughout the rest of the MCU for a while, which Disney was hoping to avoid. With the falling box office, many large theater chains in many countries closing down completely, and increased measures to try and control the spread of coronavirus, Disney had no choice but to give in and move Black Widow out.

While Disney can try to contain the damage, delaying Black Widow is going to mess with Phase 4 of the MCU. They really had no other option, but are going to have to scramble to make sure that they can execute their carefully laid plans. Marvel Phase 4 was already at risk of missing major release dates because of production delays, but pushing back Black Widow makes that harder to avoid. It’s unlikely to put the MCU itself in jeopardy, but things are about to get a lot more difficult for Disney/Marvel.

When Black Widow Could Now Release

There’s been no announced release date for Black Widow yet due to Disney trying to keep its options open. At this point, almost every major studio release through May has been postponed, so it’s unlikely that anything before June is feasible. The Eternals is the next MCU movie to come out, currently set for November 6, so Marvel is likely to want Black Widow to release a couple of months before that to keep them from having to compete with each other. That gives a range of about June to September in which to release Black Widow, but it’s not as simple as just picking a random weekend. June feels safe right now, but it may not be by the time it comes around. A pandemic doesn’t work on a predictable schedule, so there could still be large-scale theater closures or moviegoers not wanting to spend two hours in a small room with hundreds of strangers, even if the worst has passed by then. If things are still bad, then Disney’s release window shortens considerably.

Even if those months are safe, there’s also the issue of competition and release dates that are already taken by other movies. Disney won’t release it to compete with its own movies, like Pixar’s Soul (June 19th) or Jungle Cruise (July 24th). They could start a game of chicken with big releases from other studios, like Top Gun: Maverick (June 24th), but they’re better off finding their own release dates. Making this even more of a mess are the movies that don’t have release dates yet. Disney doesn’t have just Black Widow to put on the calendar. They’ve also delayed Mulan, The New Mutants, and Antlers, all movies they’re trying to find 2020 release dates for. While Black Widow is likely to be their top priority, this just increases the competition. Trying to release it significantly before Eternals’ current date may prove impossible.

Will Marvel Delay Other Movies After Black Widow?

By delaying Black Widow, Marvel is likely to have to delay some of its other movies. Eternals has wrapped principal photography, so it should be able to hit its original release date. It’s a risky move to make, and with Black Widow having to find a new spot, big promotional events like comic conventions being canceled, and it being so dependent on the global box office, Eternals may be best off being delayed.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is facing production issues, which could very well push it back. Director Destin Daniel Cretton stopped production to get tested for coronavirus. While he tested negative, Shang-Chi hasn’t restarted filming yet, putting its February 2021 release date in jeopardy. The other Phase 4 movies weren't in production, but it’s possible that ripple effects from these delays will end up pushing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Spider-Man: Homecoming 3, and possibly Black Panther 2 back.

The Marvel Phase 4 TV shows are also in big trouble, as work on Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and Loki has been shut down for the time being. While TV shows normally wouldn’t have a big effect on the production of movies outside of actor availability, the MCU presents a completely different puzzle for Disney to solve since everything is meant to be connected.

The Problems With Marvel Delaying Movies

The promise of Marvel's Phase 4 is that the universe is expanding - and everything will remain connected as they were before. WandaVision has strong ties to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Loki will probably connect to Thor: Love and Thunder and may have some links to Doctor Strange 2 as well. Any delays need to keep the shows and movies coming out in the same order to have everything connected and working properly. The MCU projects are too deeply connected for one to go ahead without considering the rest.

This domino effect, of one movie getting delayed and greatly affecting the rest, is why Marvel held so closely to the idea that they could keep the May 1, 2020 release date. They could simply push everything back to the next movie’s release date – Black Widow comes out November 6, 2020, Eternals comes out February 12, 2021, and so on – but that means Loki and WandaVision may have to shift their schedules to line up with the movies that they tie into. This may have been inevitable, as everything currently in production has shut down and may not finish on time, but that’s the last thing Disney/Marvel wants to do with their meticulously planned cinematic universe.

Of all the movies, Black Widow is probably the easiest one to move. It’s a prequel, set sometime between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, focused on a character who’s dead going into Phase 4. While the new Black Widow, Yelena Belova, is likely to play a big part in future movies, there doesn’t seem to be much else directly connecting Black Widow to Phase 4 of the MCU. This delay could be the first domino in the rest of their schedule slipping, but Black Widow itself can slot into just about any release date without too much difficulty.

Delaying Black Widow was the right thing, even though it was difficult for Disney/Marvel to do. It’s going to have an impact on the carefully laid plans for the MCU moving forward, likely leading to more delays messing up their carefully planned release schedule. Having just wrapped up the Infinity Saga after more than a decade, Marvel Phase 4 was going to be a big test for the MCU moving forward, and it was dealt a big blow. If anyone can recover from that, it would be Marvel/Disney, but it’s not going to be easy.

Next: Coronavirus: Every Movie and TV Show Production Delayed