Black Widow: A Timeline
Anybody remember when this set video was spread all over social media?
This was the first footage we ever saw of Black Widow, and this was over one year ago, in 2019.
The Black Widow film has been through thick and thin, from originally being planned as one of the first Marvel films to be released by Lionsgate when the rights were acquired in 2004, to it’s current release being pushed back multiple times due to the Coronavirus worldwide pandemic. To make matters less confusing, I’ve made a timeline of events of (almost) every single moment in the history of the Black Widow film.
February 2004
Lionsgate acquires the film rights to Black Widow, and begins pre-production of a Black Widow film.
April 2004
David Hayter is announced as the writer and director of a Black Widow film, with Marvel Studios’ Avi Arad as a producer.
June 2004
Lionsgate dropped the film rights to Black Widow, and the rights revert back to Marvel Studios. Writer and director David Hayter attempted to get another financier to develop the film, but Hayter stated “there had not been able to find a place that was willing to take the movie and the character seriously”.
There is no news on a Black Widow solo film for ten years.
Meanwhile...
January 2009
Marvel Studios begins casting for Black Widow, with Emily Blunt being a front runner for the role, though she was unable to play the character due to other film commitments.
February 2009
Scarlett Johansson is cast as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in Iron Man 2. Johansson continues on to play the character in The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
We receive the first news of a potential Black Widow solo film in 2014.
February 2014
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed in an interview with Total Film that some developmental groundwork had been done on a potential Black Widow solo film starring Scarlett Johansson.
August 2014
While at Fan Expo Canada, Stan Lee revealed that the film may be moving forward. In an interview with Collider, Johansson revealed that she and Feige had discussed a series of standalone Black Widow films for Marvel.
At this point, no notable news was reported about a Black Widow film, and no development seemed to be made until early 2018.
January 2018
The Black Widow film was reported to be in early development, with Jac Schaeffer being hired to write the script.
April 2018
Marvel Studios began searching for a director for the film and had been meeting with filmmakers such as Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Chloé Zhao, Amma Asante, Maggie Betts, and Angela Robinson. It was later reported that Marvel had met with over 65 directors, and had narrowed down their search to Cate Shortland, Amma Asante, and Maggie Betts.
July 2018
Cate Shortland was ultimately chosen to direct the film.
February 2019
Production Weekly listed that filming was expected to begin in June in the United Kingdom and wrap in September for a 2020 release. Collider reported that Ned Benson had been hired to rewrite the script.
April 2019
“Midsommar” actress Florence Pugh had entered negotiations to star in the film, with Pugh and “Stranger Things” actor David Harbour being cast the next month. Rachel Weisz entered negotiations to star. A week later, “The Handmaiden’s Tale” actor O-T Fagbenle was cast in an undisclosed leading role.
May 2019
Scarlett Johansson was listed as a producer on the film, making her the first actress to both produce and star in a Marvel Studios film. Filming had begun in Norway, with the working title being revealed as “Blue Bayou”.
The first images and footage of the Black Widow set were released, in which a scene was filmed where Black Widow is seen shopping at a Norwegian grocery store.
Ray Winstone was cast in an undisclosed leading role.
More Black Widow set pictures were released. The picture shows Black Widow in a wooded area, listening to some music on her phone in between filming. O-T Fagbenle was reportedly seen on the set as well.
Another scene was revealed, with Johansson walking around on a busy street, and Johansson and Pugh’s stunt doubles riding a motorcycle and driving a car in some action sequences.
At San Diego Comic-Con 2019, the cast was revealed, the film’s logo was shown, and Kevin Feige announced that the film was scheduled to hit theaters on May 1, 2020. Initial footage was shown, but the footage has yet to be revealed by the public.
Another bout of Black Widow set photos were revealed, this time showing a new costume for Black Widow and what seemed to be a helicopter crash.
At Disney’s D23, a concept art poster was revealed and footage different from SDCC’s was shown. A 4 second clip was the first official footage to be unofficially released.
October 2019
Set photos revealed that William Hurt would be reprising his role as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross.
Later that month, filming had wrapped and post-production had begun.
December 2019
The teaser trailer was released and the teaser poster was revealed.
A special look was released.
Reshoots began in Los Angeles, California.
A television spot was released during the 2020 Superbowl.
Individual character posters were released.
The final trailer and theatrical poster were released.
September 2020
Marvel Studios announced the film had been pushed back once again, from its November 6, 2020 release date to May 7, 2021, more than a year after its initial release date.
March 2021
Marvel Studios announced the film had been pushed back once more, from its May 7, 2021 release date to July 9, 2021, and announced that the film will be available in theaters and on Disney+ with Premiere Access. This will be Black Widow’s final push back date. A new poster was released with the new date.
April 2021
A new trailer for Black Widow was released.
Promotion and press tours officially began.
May 2021
New individual character posters were released.
June 2021
The final poster was released.
Critic reviews began to come in, with generally favorable reviews. Black Widow was given a Certified Fresh score of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
July 2021
On July 9, 2021, after three years of speculation, filming, and push backs, Black Widow was finally released into the world.
And that’s it! A three-year journey, the story of the Black Widow movie is finally complete! I’ll upload my review on July 9th once I see the film. For now, I’ll see you on the flip side!
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