At long last, Black Widow is officially on the release slate for Marvel Studios. Studio president Kevin Feige and Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson took the stage at San Diego Comic-Con moments ago to announce Black Widow would be racing into theaters May 1, 2020 as many expected.
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Along with Johansson, Black Widow stars Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, O-T Fagbenle, and Ray Winstone were also on hand to help promote the film, which has been touted as an international espionage thriller, not unlike the James Bond franchise.
Feige himself had previously admitted there was a “method to the madness” in bringing prequels into the Marvel Cinematic Universe after having one continual narrative for the last ten years.
“There’s a method to the madness,” Feige said. “There’s always a method and doing things in an unexpected way is something we find fun. There are ways to do prequels that are less informative or answer questions you didn’t necessarily have, and then there are ways to do prequels where you learn all sorts of things you never knew before.”
Despite being in production for several weeks at this point, Marvel Studios’ panel is the first time the film has been officially announced. Earlier set photos showed a mysterious costumed character, which many are expecting to be the fan-favorite mercenary Taskmaster.
The announcement also comes at a time when Johansson has been in the spotlight for recent controversial comments, which have since been walked back in a follow-up apology.
“An interview that was recently published has been edited for click bait and is widely taken out of context. The question I was answering in my conversation with the contemporary artist, David Salle, was about the confrontation between political correctness and art,” Johansson said. “I personally feel that, in an ideal world, any actor should be able to play anybody and Art, in all forms, should be immune to political correctness. That is the point I was making, albeit didn’t come across that way. I recognize that in reality, there is a wide spread discrepancy amongst my industry that favors Caucasian, cis gendered actors and that not every actor has been given the same opportunities that I have been privileged to. I continue to support, and always have, diversity in every industry and will continue to fight for projects where everyone is included.”
What are you hoping Black Widow tackles? Share your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things MCU!
Spider-Man: Far From Home is now in theaters while Black Widow is set for release on May 1, 2020. Avengers: Endgame will get a digital release July 30th ahead of home media hitting shelves August 13th.
