A new release date has been announced for the first Phase Four film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Unless any more delays strike, fans will be able to watch Black Widow on the 9th of July, 2021 in any open theatres nearby, or from the safety and comfort of their homes via streaming. The decision comes after widespread theatre closures caused three delays already. Marvel and Disney have also revealed the release date for the second Phase Four flick coming after Black Widow - Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will premier on the 3rd of September, 2021. It is not clear whether Shang Chi will be available on Disney Plus from the get-go, or if the studio is banking on lockdown measures to be loosened by then. A new posted for the upcoming Black Widow film was revealed alongside the news of the new premier date, showing off the super-spy’s new white outfit. Scarlett Johansson reprises her role as the titular character, joined by Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff. The movie in bound to be a sort of flashback/prequel due to the events of Avengers: Endgame, unless we see more of the MCU’s time-travel or magic facilitate the movie. Regardless of when it takes place, the plot will be mired in conspiracies stretching back to Black Widow’s past from before her involvement with the Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. The announcement that the movie will premier on Disney Plus comes in the wake of the record breaking debut of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the second MCU series developed exclusively for the platform following the success of Wandavision earlier this year, which recently wrapped its first season. Envisioned as the new home of both Marvel and Star Wars content, Disney’s proprietary streaming service became a runaway success - especially following the immense hit The Mandalorian - with over 100 million subscribers. Meanwhile, in stark contrast to the continued success of the MCU, AAA live-service game Marvel’s Avengers just can’t seem to catch a break between dropping sales, a misbegotten update making the XP grind even harder and swirling rumors about an upcoming change to a free-to-play business model. Considering how immense a hit the movies have been for over a decade now, it’s surprising that a AAA game based on these heroes took this long to make, and that it ended up in this state.
