While the coronavirus forces Hollywood to shut down productions, the delay of Marvel's Black Widow film will supposedly not affect the MCU Phase 4 timeline. As Disney was forced to delay their films Mulan and New Mutants like other studios because of the current crisis, they were adamant that Black Widow, which had a release date of May 1, 2020, would not be pushed back. Now, they've changed their tune, as the status of the next few months remains unclear. Disney officially delayed Black Widow, The Woman in the Window, and The Personal History of David Copperfield, with new release dates to be announced later.
Black Widow stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, an Avenger who is forced to face her troubled past with the KGB and the Red Room. Directed by Cate Shortland, the cast also includes Florence Pugh (Little Women), Rachel Weisz (The Favourite), and David Harbour (Stranger Things). The film is set between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War and will feature the villain Taskmaster. Black Widow will be the second Marvel movie to be directed by a woman, as Captain Marvel was co-directed by Anna Boden, but will be the first to be solo-directed by a woman.
According to Variety, a source close to Marvel stated that the delayed release of Black Widow will not alter the current MCU timeline. Because the film is a prequel, there's less involved that would directly affect future events. As of right now, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is scheduled to release on Disney+ in August, The Eternals in theaters on November 6, and WandaVision on Disney+ in December of this year.
Marvel has frequently made comments about how intertwined the future of the MCU is, with WandaVision being closely tied to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and soon-to-be-introduced characters like Ms. Marvel jumping between Marvel TV and the films. This statement could mean that Black Widow stands on its own and doesn't necessarily need to be released before the rest of Phase 4 or that Disney is confident the film will be out before the end of the summer.
Ultimately, the future of the MCU is very up in the air, and no one can be sure what will happen in the coming months. It's possible that Marvel will need to push back the release of more movies and TV shows, but right now they remain confident that Phase 4 will go on as originally designed. Some people are pushing for Black Widow to be released on Disney+, but as it would be a part of the regular subscription, Disney would lose out on major profit. No matter what they do, Black Widow is sure to be an action-packed and exciting edition to the MCU, whenever it is finally released.
Source: Variety
