The Marvel Cinematic Universe content drought is finally coming to an end this Friday.
While WandaVision will mark the MCU's first installment since July 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home, the superhero franchise is still a couple of months away from returning to the theaters. That is, of course, if theaters return at all.
Black Widow was scheduled to kick off Phase 4 in May 2020, but when pandemic precautions forced it into an indefinite delay, the future of silver screen MCU installments became uncertain.
At last month's Disney Investor Day, Marvel President Kevin Feige confirmed Black Widow would debut in theaters on May 7, 2021, a little over one year after it's initially scheduled release. That being said, questions have arisen of whether Natasha Romanoff's first solo flick would meet its latest release date.
QUOTE
With 14,000,605 potential release options for Black Widow, Kevin Feige reiterated he wants to see it debut in cinemas.
Speaking to ComicBook.com, Feige took a realistic approach to questions about Black Widow's release. As much as he wants to see it premiere on the silver screen, he admitted he does not have full confidence in its current release date.
“I mean, confidence is meaningless in today's world because nobody knows anything. Hope springs eternal. A year delay, you hope would be enough, there's a vaccine out there now. We'll see. I certainly hope so. I want to be back in the theater with people.”
Black Widow was originally scheduled to release in May 2020, with Eternals following it six months later in November. With the latest release schedule shuffle, Scarlett Johansson's solo flick is set to drop just two months before the next theatrical project, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Despite the proximity of the two films, Feige stressed that close releases are nothing new for Marvel Studios.
“We've had that before. Endgame and Far From Home were the same time. We have the pleasure and the privilege of working with the greatest marketing department in the history of Hollywood, so restarting that campaign, any of those campaigns, I have great confidence in. What I don't have confidence is the timing because we're dealing with this whole pandemic.”
WHAT THIS MEANS
While Feige's quotes are not entirely optimistic, it is good to get full transparency from our fearless Marvel leader.
The reality of today's world is that everything has to be taken with a grain of salt. Rain checks have become the norm. Delays are expected. As Feige said, having a vaccine gives hope, but it would be jumping the gun to simply assume normalcy will return in just a few months.
As impatient as all Marvel fans are getting, and trust me, I'm right there with you, Feige's words should be greatly appreciated. How disappointing would it be to hear him guarantee a May release, just for it to get bumped again?
As we say on The Direct Podcast, Marvel's motto has always been patience, planning, execution. If 2020 taught us anything, it's that Feige is willing to put his billion-dollar franchise on an indefinite off-season to ensure the MCU's gold standard is reached. With that being said, here's to hoping we can all crowd theaters once again come Black Widow's release.
In Feige We Trust.
Black Widow is tentatively scheduled for a May 7, 2021 theatrical release.
MCU Writer, Editor, Podcaster
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