There's lots going on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe this year, with several new Marvel films coming to cinemas - and even an Avengers theme park opening up in California.
Black Widow is the next Marvel film to be released in 2021, with Venom: Let there be Carnage out in September, Marvel: Eternals due in November and Thor: Love and Thunder to look forward to in May 2022.
Black Widow is the first film in Phase Four of the MCU. It's one of many films which have been delayed several times due to the pandemic, originally due to be released in May 2020.
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Scarlett Johanssen will star as Agent Natasha Romanoff - aka Black Widow - who "confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arise," reads the official synopsis.
"Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger."
Agent Romanoff's past
"How much do you really know about the elusive Natasha Romanoff?" Teased Johansson in a Marvel featurette. "It's time for her story.
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Black Widow takes place after Captain America: Civil War and before Avengers: Infinity War. It's a 'filling in' film, which tells fans a bit more about Agent Romanoff before her life as an Avenger, when she was a dangerous KGB assassin.
Fans have been teased about Romanoff's dark past in previous Marvel films, including in Captain America: Winter Soldier, when Alexander Pierce threatens to expose it before he is defeated by Romanoff and the other Avengers.
Black Widow trailer
Black Widow release date and how to watch it
Black Widow will be released in cinemas and simultaneously on Disney+ premier on 9th July 2021. That's in both the US and UK. All major cinemas will show the new Marvel movie.
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To watch it on Disney+ on 9th July, you'll need to pay for premier access, which is a one-off fee of £19.99 (on top of the monthly subscription fee of £7.99). We imagine the film will become available to all Disney+ subscribers once it's finished in cinemas.
Black Widow Cast
Alongside Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr will reprise his role as the legendary Tony Stark - aka Iron Man - once more in Black Widow, before leaving behind the MCU for good - gutted!
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You should also expect to see:
- David Harbour as Alexel Shostokov aka Red Guardian - Russia's answer to America's superhero, Captain America
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, who was chosen to be the new Black Widow once Romanoff was no longer exclusively faithful to Russia
- O-T Fagbenle as Rick Mason - a former S.H.I.E.L.D agent with a romantic interest in Romanoff
- Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokof - a master Russian combatant, assassin, and espionage agent.
Ever Anderson will play the young Natasha Romanoff and Violet McGraw will play the young Yelena Belova as this movie delves deep into the characters' pasts.
David Harbour said his character in Black Widow altered Hopper's appearance in Stranger Things
Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live, David Harbour, who plays Hopper the Russian spy in the latest Stranger Things movie, said:
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"They [the Stranger Things producers] wanted me to play a guy who starts out in a Russian prison," he said. "So there's all these conspiracy theories that Hopper went to Russia and then put on a super suit, and now is the Red Guardian in the Black Widow movie." We quite like the sound of that!
"I had this long hair and this beard and I was big and I thought, 'I can't be the same guy with long hair and a beard in the same prison.'"
"At the end, I had all this hair and all this beard and we had planned to do it that way. And I was like, 'Guys, we can't do this. I mean, I'm coming out with this Marvel movie, I can't have the beard and the hair,'" Harbour recalled.
"So, we came up with a whole different look for it. We had [Hopper] shave his head," so that he wouldn't look like the Red Guardian.
The franchise has also cast the world's tallest bodybuilder, Olivier Richters, for the forthcoming movie, which is the 7ft 2 man's big break into cinema. "It has always been my dream to do something with my size," he wrote on Instagram. "Can't wait for all the releases."
*Spoiler alert: If you haven't seen Endgame, you may not want to read this bit*
Scarlett Johansson: "Our goal was for them was to feel satisfied with this story"
Marvel)
Speaking to Total Film, Johansson said she hopes Black Widow will bring some closure to Marvel fans, after Romanoff's tragic death in Endgame.
"Our goal was for them to feel satisfied with this story," she said. "That they could maybe have some resolution, I think, with this character's death, in a way. It felt like people wanted that."
If you're not ready to say goodbye to Agent Romanoff just yet, Black Widow gives fans just that little bit more of the fiery Avenger to hold onto.
Featured Image Credit: Marvel
Topics: Black Widow, Avengers, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel