Marvel fans have been clamoring for astand-alone Black Widow moviefor years, and they’re finally getting one. Despite her seemingly permanent send-off inAvengers: Endgame, Natasha Romanoff will return to the big screen to kick off Marvel’s highly-anticipated Phase 4.
In true superspy fashion, Marvel Studios is keeping many details ofBlack Widowtightly guarded, but the company has revealed some footage from the film via trailers and television ads. Here’s everything we know aboutBlack Widowso far, which is currently scheduled to premiere on July 9.
The home stretch
After nearly a year’s worth of delays, we’re finally nearingBlack Widow‘s July 9 release date, officially kicking off Marvel’s Phase 4. Disney is going into promotional overdrive, with new footage hitting YouTube and social media. Plus, be sure to check outDigital Trends’ review.
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The Winter Guard
In an Instagram post, David Harbour confirmed that Ursa Minor, Crimson Dynamo, Sputnik, and “the rest of the Winter Guard” all make appearances inBlack Widow.
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New trailer
After nearly a year of delays, Disney finally settled on July 9 forBlack Widow‘s release. Now, they have a new trailer to reinvigorate the marketing around the movie and they’re leaning on Black Widow’s Avengers roots. From footage with her Avengers teammates to the actualThe Avengersscore, Disney’s looking to the past to buildBlack Widow‘s future.
Release date
In March, Disney was forced to delay several films due tothe coronavirus pandemic, includingBlack Widow. The studio announced anew release date, November 6, but in September it was reported that Disney isconsidering another delayfor the Marvel Cinematic Universe film. That delay was later confirmed, with Disneypushing the film’s premiere backto July 16, 2025.
The tepid box-office response to the few films released in theaters since they began reopening — particularly Christopher Nolan’sTenet— reportedly pushed Disney to rethink the release.
Now, after several changes,Black Widowfinally has an official release date. Disney revealed on Twitter that the film will be available in theaters and on Disney+ for an additional fee on July 9.
Black Widow in theaters July 9 and on#DisneyPluswith Premier Access. Additional fees required.pic.twitter.com/nXBjsHoXtY
— Disney+ (@DisneyPlus)June 20, 2025
All in the family
In an interview forBlack Widow‘s tie-in coffee table book, David Harbour revealed some more information about the primary protagonists of the upcoming film.
“Now, the connection to him and Black Widow is that they were set up as a spy family in America in the ’90s,” Harbour said. “So, Rachel Weisz’s character, Melina, was sort of the mom, Alexei was the dad, and Natasha and Yelena were their little kids. We see that in the beginning of the movie, and they sort of function as a family.” Somewhat like FX’sThe Americans,Black Widowdeals with Soviet government-appointed spy families.
Now, it’s 20 years since the family split up, and Alexei (Harbour) is trying to get this unit back to functioning as a family and help Natasha find a missing piece of her identity. “Alexei’s had this deep knowledge of Natasha in a certain way that no one else had when she was a kid. He took her from the Red Room and also put her back into the Red Room because he believed in this cause.”
Extra footage in Imax
In an Imax earnings call, it was casually reported thatBlack WidowImax screenings will have 30 minutes of expanded 1.90:1 footage. The film has always been fully intended for a theatrical rather than video-on-demand release, despite the pandemic, and this news about additional footage only affirms that it’s likely a theaters-or-bust scenario.
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‘Hand the baton’
In an interview withEmpire, director Cate Shortland confirmed thatBlack Widowwill “hand the baton” to Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova. This would seem to indicate that Yelena will be the MCU’s Black Widow going forward.
“[Kevin Feige] realized that the audience would expect an origin story so, of course, we went in the opposite direction,” She said. “And we didn’t know how great Florence Pugh would be. We knew she would be great, but we didn’t know how great. Scarlett is so gracious, like, ‘Oh, I’m handing her the baton.’ So it’s going to propel another female storyline.”
But don’t start planning the MCU’s future in your head just yet. Speaking with Total Film (viaGames Radar), Pugh said she would like to “see if people like Yelena” before thinking about additional Marvel movies. “If you get asked to be in a Marvel film, and it was so thrilling and fun and exciting to be in, then, of course, your head goes: ‘Oh, my God. If this is what it’s like, then what else is next?’ If that happens and I am lucky enough that people appreciate my character, that’s an exciting road to go on,” she said. “I would be silly to not be excited by it. I think that being part of the Marvel club is a great honor. But we’ll just see if people like Yelena first.”
The images
Despite the release delay, new promotional images forBlack Widowcontinue to surface. Total Film released multiple new images in September.
Natasha, Yelena and Taskmaster 🔥#BlackWidowpic.twitter.com/JUBQP2V1zz
— Total Film (@totalfilm)June 03, 2025
The movie website/Filmacquired two in April.
Empirealso released a couple of exclusive images in March.
And a few more were released on Twitter on March 20 and 21, 2020.
New Promo Image#BlackWidowpic.twitter.com/bly2PQB7ZA
— Black Widow Movie (@BlackWidow_Film)July 30, 2025
New Stills from#BlackWidowpic.twitter.com/VGXONiDIWj
Taskmaster parece amenazante en esta nueva imagen promocional de#BlackWidowpic.twitter.com/sZsjYLe7FZ
— MarvelFlix (@MarvelFlix)June 08, 2025
Trailers and previews
The latest trailer forBlack Widowprovides a much deeper look into the upcoming film. The trailer (see above) is packed with some new action scenes and reveals the main objective for Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow. The film’s main logline states that Black Widow will confront “the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. 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.”
Black Widow made her presence known during the Super Bowl in February with a TV ad (see below) featuring some fresh footage from the upcoming film. The 30-second preview introduced audiences to the team she called her family before The Avengers.
Marvel released anew trailer forBlack Widow(see below) during the College Football Playoff National Championship game in January, and the preview offered significantly more footage of Taskmaster, the Marvel Comics mercenary making his live-action debut inBlack Widow.
A month earlier, Marvel debuted thefirst footage fromBlack Widowvia a short teaser trailer for the film (see below) that offered a glimpse of the title character’s return to the region where she began her career as a deadly superspy.
Along with getting a peek at Scarlett Johansson’s return as the titular superhero, the trailer also introduced Florence Pugh as super-spy Yelena Belova;Stranger Thingsactor David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov, aka the Red Guardian; and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff, aka the Iron Maiden. The preview also provided the first look at Taskmaster.
New look, new poster, new characters
During Disney’s D23 Expo in August 2019,Black Widowwas the subject of several Marvel movie updates, including a preview of the new,not-black suitNatasha will don in the film.
Newly-revealed official concept art for the#BlackWidowmovie shows Natasha Romanoff wearing her new white suit!pic.twitter.com/9ILTRmlJNX
— MCU – The Direct (@MCU_Direct)July 13, 2025
The suit was alsoon display during the event, offering attendees an up-close look at the superspy’s fresh threads.
As if that wasn’t enough of a tease, artist Andy Park alsorevealedthe officialBlack Widowposter he painted for the film.
BLACK WIDOW!!! Official D23 poster I had the honor of painting. She’s very near & dear to me since it’s the gazillionth time I’ve concept designed/painted her. What a cast & crew!#BlackWidow@MarvelStudios#ScarlettJohansson@Florence_Pugh@DavidKHarbour#RachelWeisz@DisneyD23pic.twitter.com/fxMOI4fJ5R
— Andy Park (@andyparkart)July 08, 2025
The image features Johansson as the titular secret agent front and center, but it also includes an image of the villain Taskmaster in the background, as well as the first look at Red Guardian, the character portrayed byStranger Thingsactor David Harbour.
Naturally,Black Widowis headlined by the one and only Scarlett Johansson, who will be slipping into the Black Widow’s stealth suit for the eighth time. Johansson has played Black Widow since 2010, when she debuted inIron Man 2. Johansson’s Black Widow has also appeared in all fourAvengersmovies,Captain America: The Winter Soldier,and CaptainAmerica: Civil War.
She’ll be joined inBlack Widowby Florence Pugh, who will play Natasha’s fellow Red Room alumnus, Yelena Belova. Pugh, who burst on the scene in 2014’sThe Falling, is one of Hollywood’s brightest rising stars.
The young actress received rave reviews for her lead performance inLady Macbeth, and recently appeared in the wrestling comedyFighting with My FamilyandMidsommar, Ari Aster’s chilling follow-up toHereditary.
In addition,Stranger Things‘very ownChief Hopper, David Harbour, will appear inBlack Widowas The Red Guardian, the Russian equivalent of Captain America — and, in Marvel’s comics, Natasha’s ex-husband.
Rachel Weisz also joined the cast as Melina Vostokoff, aka the Iron Maiden, along with O-T Fagbenle in an unspecified role.
The plot and the timeline
At Comic-Con International 2019, Marvel confirmed thatBlack Widowis a prequel film that will be set between the events ofCaptain America: Civil WarandAvengers: Infinity War.
For those of you who need a quick refresher,Civil Warended with Black Widow on the lam after helping Captain America and the Winter Soldier escape prosecution at the hands of Iron Man’s pro-oversight forces. She remained in hiding untilInfinity War, when Thanos’ impending arrival forced her to emerge from the shadows.
Marvel also announced that one ofBlack Widow’sbad guys will be Taskmaster. In the comics, Taskmaster is a mercenary who can mimic the fighting style of any opponent. He tends to carry a sword and a shield, although he’s a skilled hand-to-hand combatant as well, and should give Natasha a pretty tough fight.
We can also make a few predictions based on Florence Pugh’s role. In the comic books, Pugh’s character, Yelena Belova, is a product of the Red Room, the shadowy Soviet training and brainwashing facility that forges Black Widows (yes, there are more than one). When Yelena debuted in 1999, she was a villain who had all of Natasha’s abilities — they were taught at the same place, after all — until Natasha proved to be the superior fighter, at which point she retired.
The Red Room is already canon in the MCU, and it’s been referenced in bothAvengers: Age of UltronandAgent Carter. Expect it to play a big role inBlack Widow, too. In fact, if Natasha Romanoff’s time in the MCU is truly finished afterBlack Widow, it wouldn’t be a major shock to see Yelena take on the Black Widow mantle going forward. After all,Captain America,Hawkeye, andThorare also getting MCU replacements. What’s one more?
Behind the camera
Black Widowis being directed byCate Shortland, who’s best known for the Nazi dramaLore. In 2017, Shortland also directedBerlin Syndrome, a psychological thriller about a young photographer who’s held captive by her one-night stand. Shortland beat out 70 other directors for the role, and was reportedly Johansson’s personal favorite.
Meanwhile,Black Widow‘s script was written by Jac Schaeffer, whose credits include her debut filmTimerandThe Shower, a script that earned a spot on Hollywood’s Black List of popular scripts circulating in the industry. Schaeffer also wrote the script for the upcoming comedyNasty Women, a female-led remake ofDirty Rotten Scoundrelsstarring Anne Hathaway, Rebel Wilson, and Alex Sharp.
A super paycheck for a super spy
Marvel knows what Black Widow is worth to the MCU, and for Natasha’s solo flick it decided to pay Johansson accordingly. ForBlack Widow, the Marvel veteran will earn a whopping$15 million, which is on par with what Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth earned for playing Captain America and Thor, respectively, in bothInfinity Warand their most recent solo features (Captain America: Civil WarandThor: Ragnarok).
For the sake of comparison,Black Pantherstar Chadwick Boseman was reportedly paid $2 million to star in that character’s first solo feature, while Brie Larson is said to have earned $5 million to star inCaptain Marvelmovie — which also required her to sign a seven-movie deal with Marvel.
Johansson didn’t makeBlack Widowjust for the money, however. It’s a personal project, too. In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, the actress claimed that she was originally worried that she wouldn’t “be able to make a movie that I wanted to within Marvel,” and only signed on toBlack Widowafter Marvel agreed to fuse some of her ideas with those proposed by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige.
