Black Widow is finally being released in theaters on July 9, which should be exciting on a number of fronts. First of all, a return to theaters at all after the pandemic is something to be celebrated, and the fact that Marvel fans can finally watch a new film on the big screen is something that many have been looking forward to. Besides all of that, it’s very exciting that Marvel is releasing another solo female superhero movie after 13 years of only male-centered solo films.
However, something about the release of Black Widow feels rather…lackluster. It could be that the movie was delayed so many times because of Covid-19 that the initial excitement and buzz around the film died out a little bit by the time of its actual release, but it’s more than that. This movie just feels out of place, and like it was released much too late. The story of the MCU is in Phase 4 is moving on from the original Avengers for the most part, so why is this movie (which was supposed to be the Phase 4 opener) going back to the past?
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A part of the reason that everything around Black Widow feels a little lacking is that it is no longer the first entry of Phase 4, and the MCU Disney Plus shows have shown fans what the MCU can do, and what kind of crazy storylines they might be getting into in this newest phase. With shows like WandaVision and Loki that are literally messing with the fabric of reality and time in the MCU, it almost feels like a bit of a regression to go back to something as simple as a spy thriller for Black Widow.
More than all of this, however, is that the gesture of making a solo movie about this beloved female hero (the first to be introduced in the MCU) just feels like too little too late. Fans have been asking for a Black Widow solo movie for years, ever since Natasha was first introduced on-screen, and the request was never taken seriously by Marvel. Part of this is due to the CEO of Marvel Entertainment at the time, Ike Perlmutter, who was reluctant to make female-centric superhero movies because he was convinced they wouldn’t sell tickets, and he never allowed them to be produced. But even once he was moved out of the film and TV division of Marvel, it was years before a female superhero movie even saw the light of day.
It simply doesn’t make sense for Marvel to make a Black Widow movie at this point in the timeline. The movie is a prequel, and takes place after Captain America: Civil War. It would have been a better move to release this movie in 2016 or 2017 after the release of Civil War, because it would have felt more relevant. Not only that, but it’s such a strange move to make a solo movie about a superhero who has nowhere else to go. Marvel can’t do anything further with the character because she’s dead in-universe.
It really feels like a slap in the face to fans who have wanted a Black Widow movie since her introduction in Iron Man 2 to finally make it happen after the character has already died. The movie almost feels like an afterthought at this point, like they had some ideas of a couple more things they wanted to tack onto Natasha’s character before the MCU says goodbye to her forever, but they couldn’t have been bothered to do it before she died. It makes the whole movie feel sort of pointless. It’s great that her character might get fleshed out a little more, but what do we do with that? It’s not like it will have any lasting effects on her character going forward, because there’s literally no going forward for Natasha Romanoff. What about her story could be important enough that it warrants going back to make a prequel about it when the character’s story has already finished?
In fact, post-Iron Man 2 would have been a great time to make a Black Widow movie, and it could have focused more on her origin story - which, in truth, is the part of her story that a majority of fans are most interested in anyways. That would have been the perfect time to give Natasha the spotlight, and more fully introduce her to the MCU, rather than just giving hints of character development and backstory in her numerous MCU appearances in other, more male-led movies. The biggest bit of development that Natasha gets is her turn in Endgame, where she views the Avengers as family, and is willing to sacrifice herself for them and for the fate of the world. Granted, that's a rather extreme moment of development, but it's still the most we ever get from her.
With that in mind, it's great that she's getting a solo movie at all, but it still feels a bit gratuitous at this point. Perhaps Black Widow will reveal a lot of necessary information about Natasha's character and show her growth in between Civil War and Infinity War, but there's nowhere for the character to go after this, which is what makes it all feel so pointless. Of course, Loki may be breaking open the multiverse for the MCU, so there's always the possibility that another version of Natasha could come back in some way (similarly to how Gamora did in Endgame), but if not, this just feels like the completely wrong time for her to be given a solo movie. Hopefully, in the future, Marvel can invest more in their female characters early, rather than waiting until they've died off to give them the character exploration they always deserved.
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