The third trailer for Marvel’s Black Widow has dropped. Under ordinary circumstances, we would’ve most likely not received this trailer and Trailer #3 released last year would have been the final trailer before the movie’s release. Since then, the movie’s release has been pushed back more than once before settling in on July this year.
One of the debates going into this trailer was whether Marvel Studios, one of the last major tentpole studios will succumb to the day-and-date release on a streaming service or will stick its neck out to an exclusive theatrical release much like Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. This was confirmed in a recent development as Black Widow was slated for a simultaneous theatrical and streaming release and new trailer only lays that out in clear terms. The end of the trailer confirms once and for all, in a rather dramatic reveal, that Black Widow will release in theaters and on Disney+ for an additional fee. Disney is going the Mulan way with this one and for a release as premium as this, I fully expect them to charge the same $30 price as they did for Mulan last year.
In terms of the trailer, marketing has done a good job of revealing new bits while trying their best to keep the major surprises at bay. This is done through a combination of recycling footage from old trailers and bookending them with extended scenes as well as reusing footage from the earlier MCU films featuring Natasha Romanoff in an effort to use up running time. That the trailer runs only for 2 minutes certainly helps. Among the major reveals is up-close looks at the Taskmaster whose identity remains a secret and whose get up would’ve stayed mostly under wraps too were it not for the multiple delays.
In a rather neat touch, Black Widow is given the Avengers theme, signifying that she was and will continue to remain an Avenger emeritus. Alan Silvestri’s now iconic theme might be played in the final film itself although I don’t expect it to be front and center; perhaps only included for nostalgia’s sake. Also in the limelight is Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova who as we know, is expected to take over the titular role from Scarlett Johansson in a passing the mantle scenario.
Black Widow will now bow out in theaters and on Disney+ on July 9. Of course, with so much time until July, there exists the possibility that Disney might reevaluate the course of things based on the world order and pull off the streaming release entirely. Assuming it doesn’t come to that though, let me know whether you’ll prefer to watch this in theaters or play it safe on Disney+ in the comments below.
