In a year that’s been a true struggle for the theatrical industry, another big blow has now arrived.
With the release of Black Widow quickly approaching, excitement was starting to mount for the long-awaited solo debut of one of the franchise’s most beloved heroes and the film that would launch the post-Infinity Saga Phase Four. Of course, theater owners were looking forward to it as well, given that it was widely expected to do solid numbers at the box office and we all know how quiet things have been on that front lately.
But as expected, Black Widow will no now longer be with us in November as was originally planned. Instead, Disney has chosen to delay it from its original release date – November 6th, 2020 – all the way to May 7th, 2021. And you can bet that a lot of people aren’t going to be happy about it.
As Deadline explains, this will impact the next few MCU releases as well, with the outlet laying it all out as follows:
Black Widow‘s shift kicks Marvel’s Eternals from Feb. 12, 2021 to Nov. 5, 2021; and moves Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings from May 7, 2021 to July 9, 2021 (a post Independence Day release date that Disney had already reserved for an untitled feature). Trickling up into Eternals Feb. 12, 2021 spot is 20th Century Studios’ The King’s Man which jumps up from its Feb. 26, 2021 release date.
So, quite a lot of reshuffling then and one would imagine that this was spurred by the recent underwhelming performance of Tenet, which has also seen WB delay Wonder Woman 1984 and Universal push back Candyman. No Time To Die, meanwhile, is still hanging onto its November 20th date, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see that change soon.
In any case, it seems Marvel fans won’t be getting the cinematic experience they were hoping for this year and will now have to wait until May 7th, 2021 to lay eyes on Black Widow. Let’s just cross our fingers in the hope that this is the final delay and that it really does arrive next spring.