Two weeks ago I reported that the synopsis for the Black Widow solo movie had been leaked. This authoritative sounding summary, courtesy of That Hashtag Show, informed us of a number of things about the upcoming movie. With the May 1st, 2020 release date not a ridiculously long way away, it seemed pretty plausible, as did it being set “15 years after the fall of the Soviet Union” (which would set it in 2006).
But, while this was the synopsis for a Black Widow solo movie, it’s not the synopsis for the Black Widow movie we’ll be getting. Screenwriter and cardboard box aficionado David Hayter explained what happened in an interview with Discussing Film recently, saying the following:
“Somebody just put out a synopsis of the upcoming film based on my script because it was essentially an origin story but they basically described what my logline was”
This is promising news. As I said in my original article, Black Widow being set in 2006 would “sadly put the kibosh on the rumors that the movie’s plot would be about stopping the Y2K bug.” But now that might be going ahead after all. A teenage Black Widow still torn between her loyalties to her motherland and her loyalties to S.H.I.E.L.D. is a rock-solid concept, as is re-contextualizing the Y2K bug as a supervillainous plot to screw with the early internet.
If they do go through with this, expect it to be the ultimate litmus test of Marvel Studios’ digital de-ageing techniques. We’re about to get a cutting edge example of this in Samuel L. Jackson’s binocular Nick Fury in Captain Marvel, but a full-length de-ageing of Scarlett Johansson for the entirety of a picture would be a game-changer for Hollywood and would certainly mark the Black Widow movie as another highlight on the studio’s already wildly impressive resume.