Disney Remains “Flexible” With Marvel’s “Black Widow”

Over the course of the past year, almost every major film release has been pushed or altered in some way. From Trolls to the next film in the James Bond, every film has seen a change. One of the most anticipated projects from last year, Marvel’s Black Widow, is no different. It was supposed to kick off Phase 4 of the MCU last summer, but audiences are still waiting for the feature to debut.

Even with theaters in the midst of slowly re-opening across the country and the world, there is still a large amount of uncertainty regarding release dates, and after the success of WandaVision, many have been wondering when a proper film entry will arrive.

During an interview with Bloomberg, Disney CEO Bob Chapek opened up about the studio and their plans for their upcoming features, and whether or not a Disney+ Premier release, ala Mulan and Raya the Last Dragon is in the cards for Black Widow. Chapek specifically stated that:

Our situation and our conditions change. Just a few weeks ago, theaters in New York and Los Angeles weren’t even open. Now, all of a sudden they’re open, so we’re waiting to see how prospective theatergoers respond to these reopenings.

We’re going to remain flexible. We’ll make the call probably at the last minute in terms of how these films come to market, whether it’s Black Widow or any other title. We love the theatrical window. We think it’s important for building our franchises. At the same time, we don’t think it’s the only way to do it.

We’ll see what happens over the next couple of months. So much is changing, it’s such a dynamic environment. It’s really hard to predict what’s going to happen with consumer behavior in the next month as it comes to re-emergence back into the world of normal. We’ll be watching the call carefully and make the call when we have to.

Obviously, the hope is that the market will be sufficiently recovered by the summer to allow Black Widow to release exclusively in theaters, but it’s nice to hear that the studio head is willing to be flexible. At this point, fans are so hungry for content that another delay could be more disastrous than just releasing it.

Marvel’s Black Widow, which was directed by Cate Shortland sees Scarlet Johansson reprising her MCU role, is currently set for a May 7th theatrical debut.