Last night, Marvel Studios finally broke their silence on the franchise’s Phase 4, laying out their game plan for the next two years of superhero cinema. And to the surprise of no one, it turns out that the MCU’s new era kicks off with the long-awaited Black Widow solo movie.
As many were predicting previously, Scarlett Johansson’s standalone outing is scheduled for release on May 1st, 2020, giving fans another nine-plus months to form their theories on the Cate Shortland-helmed film. Of course, thanks to the various set photos that have emerged over these last couple of months, the moviegoing public already has a fair amount of material to look over, and thanks to last night’s panel, we now have confirmation on a few rumors and predictions that were making the rounds.
For one thing, we know that Tony Masters, aka Taskmaster, will be the film’s primary antagonist. And while we’ve yet to find out just who’s playing him, we can tell you that Johansson will be joined by the likes of Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, O-T Fagbenle and Ray Winstone in next year’s release.
What’s more, reports indicate that the story will be set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, and will observe what happened to Natasha Romanoff after she chose to let Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes go off on their mission.
For many fans, this news will raise the question of why the film is coming out after Nat’s demise in Avengers: Endgame, rather than telling her story chronologically, but for what it’s worth, producer Kevin Feige has previously offered his assurance that there’s “a method to the madness.” We’ll find out just what he means when Black Widow hits theaters on May 1st, 2020.