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Everything we know about the Black Widow stand-alone movie

At long last, Natasha Romanoff gets her due

The cast of Black Widow on the poster for the 2020 film. Marvel Studios
Petrana Radulovic is an entertainment reporter specializing in animation, fandom culture, theme parks, Disney, and young adult fantasy franchises.

Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is set to introduce a whole gamut of new characters, ranging from the powerful celestial beings the Eternals to martial arts master Shang-Chi. But before those new characters come to the big screen, we’ll be revisiting an old favorite.

The Black Widow movie will be the first movie in Phase 4, and unlike the rest of the slate it will take place before the events of Avengers: Endgame. It’s one last film for Natasha Romanoff and will delve into her past. The idea of Black Widow solo film has floated around since the character was introduced in Iron Man 2. At the time, she was the only female member of the Avengers, so the absence of a stand-alone felt jarring. Finally, after all this time, Natasha Romanoff will get her own movie. (But Tony Stark might show up, too.)

It’s a swan song for Widow, who met her end during the events of Endgame (mostly due to Johansson’s contract expiring), and will hopefully give closure for the character.

Here is everything we know about the Black Widow solo film:

What’s the official title of the Black Widow movie?

Fittingly, the Black Widow stand-alone is called Black Widow. No subtitle for this first (and probably only) solo film!

When does Black Widow come out?

May 1, 2020

Who’s in the Black Widow cast?

Scarlett Johansson will reprise the role of Natasha Romanoff. David Harbour (Stranger Things) will play Red Guardian, the Russian equivalent of Captain America. Florence Pugh (Midsommar) plays Yelena Belova, another recruit of the Black Widow program and a sister figure to Natasha. Rachel Weisz will play Melina, a seasoned Black Widow, with O-T Fagbenle as a SHIELD agent who is reportedly romantically interested in Natasha Romanoff. The villain will be Taskmaster.

Behind the scenes, Cate Shortland signed on to direct after Marvel searched for female directors. Jac Schaeffer (The Hustle, Olaf’s Frozen Adventure) and Ned Benson (The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) penned the script.

Robert Downey Jr. may return as Tony Stark for Black Widow

You might recall that Tony Stark perished in the events of Avengers: Endgame. After the release of 2019’s biggest movie, Downey Jr. talked about the role becoming comfortable and the process of distancing himself from it.

“There’s always a dependency on something that feels like a sure thing. It’s the closest thing I will ever come to being a trust fund kid. And also there’s a real bell-shaped curve. Initially by creating and associating and synergizing with Tony Stark and the Marvel universe and all this stuff, and being a good company man, but also being a little off kilter, being creative and getting into all these other partnerships, it was a time when — it’s like, what do they say? Owners start looking like their pets,” he told Cinema Blend back in July. “Occasionally you would pull back from it and go ‘All right, let me get off the teat of this archetype and let me see where I stand.’ And you can feel really buffeted and you can be really spun out by it.”

And yet, according to a report out of the 2019 Saturn Awards, Robert Downey Jr. will reportedly reprise his role as Tony Stark “one more time.” MCU fans won’t complain.

Wait ... isn’t Black Widow dead?

In terms of the present-day MCU (where it’s currently the year 2022), yes. But this movie will take place before the events of Endgame, where Natasha Romanoff sacrificed herself for the Soul Stone on Vormir.

scarlett johansson as black widow in avengers: endgame Marvel Studios/Disney

When does Black Widow take place?

At San Diego Comic-Con 2019, it was revealed that Black Widow would take place right after the events of Captain America: Civil War and before Avengers: Infinity War, placing it somewhere between 2016 and 2017.

What’s the movie about?

In the space between Civil War and Infinity War, Natasha Romanoff finds herself on the run and alone. She must confront her past and deal with some of the “red in her ledger.”

Where does it take place?

Judging by the footage revealed at San Diego Comic-Con and D23, it looks like the bulk of the action takes place in Budapest. Will we ever find out what transpired between Natasha and Clint in the Hungarian capital? Mayhaps.

What was in the first Black Widow trailer?

On the run after aiding Steve Rogers, Natasha finds herself on her own — her past catching up with her. She goes to Budapest, where upon entering a home, she faces off against Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh). The two fight — they are evenly matched, mirroring each other’s movements. Eventually, they come to a truce and Yelena refers to Natasha as her sister.

The rest of the trailer is more tense action, closer in style to the tight, espionage-tinged Winter Soldier than any other MCU flick. At one point, Natasha, Yelena, and David Harbour’s character Red Guardian share a meal together, with Red Guardian calling them a family. Yelena teases Natasha about her Black Widow fighting pose.

At the end, Natasha faces off against the villain of the movie: Taskmaster, who is able to perfectly replicate her moveset.

Update (Dec. 3): The full teaser trailer debuted online. It’s shorter than the one shown at SDCC and D23, with less banter and more David Harbour in his Red Guardian costume. Thaddeus Ross from The Incredible Hulk also makes an appearance.

David Harbour in his Red Guardian costume Image: Marvel Studios

Hasn’t the movie been in the works for, like, 10 years?

Actually, 15 years.

The saga to bring a solo Black Widow movie to the big screen actually starts back before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was even a thing. The first known iteration of a Black Widow movie floated along sometime in 2004, with David Hayter (yes, that David Hayter) writing and directing. But it floundered and was basically abandoned in 2006, when Hayter and Marvel couldn’t find a studio that would do the character justice.

When the character made her MCU debut in 2010 with Iron Man 2, Marvel Studios didn’t realize she’d be so popular and had only planned for her to be a side character in the big ensemble movies. After Age of Ultron, Johansson revealed that the number of films in her contract had been adjusted due the “demand for the character.”

In 2014, Kevin Feige expressed interest in a Black Widow stand-alone, with a treatment from Guardians of the Galaxy screenwriter Nicole Perlman. Since then, various directors and screenwriters have expressed interest, including David Hayter, Neil Marshall (The Descent), and Joss Whedon. Feige mentioned in 2016 that any Black Widow project wouldn’t happen for another four or five years.

Marvel didn’t fully move forward with the project till 2017, when Feige met with Johansson about the movie. Johansson insisted that the movie “would have to be the best version that movie could possibly be” and that she wouldn’t do it otherwise. In 2017, Marvel tapped Jac Schaeffer to write the script and after a director search starting in February 2018, finally secured Cate Shortland in July 2018.

At long last, Black Widow will grace our screens.

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