What you need to know before seeing ‘Black Widow’ in theaters this weekend

Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh in "Black Widow." (Marvel Studios.)

Warning: This article contains major spoilers of Marvel movies.


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Remember Marvel movies?

It feels almost hard to believe, but after way more than two years, a new Marvel film is about to hit theaters this weekend, and let’s just say that we’re starting to freak out in excitement.

Because of the pandemic, Marvel decided to push the release of the hotly anticipated “Black Widow,” starring none other than Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanoff, aka real-life actress Scarlett Johansson.

For many Marvel fans, this movie has been a long time coming.

As you may know, Natasha Romanoff has been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a member of the Avengers since the very beginning.

While Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America got their own movies, Black Widow is the only member not to get her own film -- OK, Hawkeye technically never got his own movie either, but does anyone even want that? He’s so boring -- until now.

Now, it’s not like fans haven’t gotten anything from Marvel since ”Avengers: Endgame” was released back in 2019. The film studio has used this time to push its new TV content on Disney+ and it’s been a pretty big success.

“WandaVision” delighted fans with its TV sitcom format, and also brought new fans into the fold (like this writer!) because of how fun it was. “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” was a great show that bridged the gap between what happened after “Endgame” -- and “Loki,” which is currently airing, has been so fun to watch. It’s weird and funny, just like our favorite villain, Loki.

But now we’re finally getting a full-length feature film, and it’s perfect that it will be “Black Widow.”

So, before you head to the movie theater with your giant soda and bucket of popcorn, you may need a little refresher on Natasha Romanoff and what she’s been up to.

First of all, this movie doesn’t take place in timeline order, and that certainly would be hard to make happen, since Romanoff tragically died during “Endgame.” Marvel movies have skipped around gone off-timeline in many instances, and this is another movie that follows suit.

“Black Widow” takes place directly after the events of “Captain America: Civil War.” As many Marvel fans know, Romanoff, as well as Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson, is in hiding until “Avengers: Infinity War” happens a few years later.

This is where we get to find out what Black Widow was up to during those few years.

Given that “Civil War” was released and took place in 2016, it’s same to assume that “Black Widow” takes place in 2016 or 2017.

“Black Widow” also stars David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, Florence Pugh and Robert Downey Jr., who is reprising his role as Iron Man.

Based on the trailer, it seems Harbour is the bad guy, and Pugh plays Romanoff’s younger sister.

There are many rumors that Pugh’s character will take over as the new Black Widow in future Marvel films, but that hasn’t been confirmed just yet. Perhaps we’ll find out during this movie?

And you can’t forget to stay after the credits to see the post-credits scene. Marvel is known for teasing upcoming projects in its post-credit scenes, and we’re sure that because it’s been so long since we’ve seen any Marvel films, the studio will make sure to spill some major tea about what’s to come next.

“Black Widow” hits theaters on Friday, and on Disney+ the same day. If you still haven’t seen the trailer for it, you can watch below.


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About the Author
Jack Roskopp headshot

Jack is a Digital Content Editor with a degree in creative writing and French from Western Michigan University. He specializes in writing about movies, food and the latest TV shows.