Black Widow: Will Marvel Announce Disney+ Release Next Week?

WarnerMedia is making it so the studio’s entire slate of 2021 releases will pop up on HBO Max the same day they’ll be first shown in theaters. With no end in sight to the ongoing global pandemic, distribution through streaming video and over-the-top (OTT) services has never been stronger. Because of that, the decision-makers at Disney are going to have to make a pretty massive decision sooner or later, and that’s the release plans for Marvel Studios’ Black Widow. As it turns out, that new is something that could come as soon as next Thursday, December 10th — the date for Disney’s annual Investor Day presentation.

The House of Mouse has already confirmed the presentation — which will be live-streamed from the Disney site beginning at 4:30 p.m. Eastern — will last around four hours, and will be focused nearly entirely on its direct-to-consumer division. The business of the company division including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, and Star.

Outside of a potential announcement regarding the merger of Disney+ and Hulu, the biggest question mark the umbrella now has to answer is how COVID is impacting the company’s content, both on a production and distribution level. While productions are firing off left and right, especially when it comes to the franchises run by Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, the Mouse has been at a standstill when it comes to releasing the properties.

The entire 2021 slate for Marvel Studios features has already been delayed twice and as the world continues to change every second around us, there’s a timeline out there in which Disney choose to dip its toes further into the Disney+ pool, testing the waters with a straight-to-streaming film from the highest-grossing property the studio has ever gotten its hands on.

With investors wanting the latest on how the company plans to weather a post-pandemic world, one of the biggest things Bob Chapek and crew could do to boost instant confidence in the Disney brand is to move Black Widow to a combination release on streaming and in theaters, wherever they’re opened — the same exact setup as WarnerMedia is planning with its 2021 slate.

Throughout the entire year, Disney has remained quiet on its content distro plans, and before long, the outfit will have to answer to investors. The best place to do that, naturally, is during the Disney Investor Day next Thursday.

Black Widow is currently set for release on May 7, 2021.

Do you think Black Widow will ever hit ahead of theaters? Why or why not? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting up our writer @AdamBarnhardt on Twitter to chat all things MCU!