Fans of Black Widow rejoiced at the revelation that the character is finally in line to get her own movie, and now we may know more about what it will actually be about. There a new rumor going around, and while it needs to be stressed that this is a rumor only, it would reportedly set at least part of the Black Widow movie at the turn of the millennium and involve the Y2K bug specifically.
The rumor comes via MCU Cosmic from an unnamed source, and so grains of salt must be taken because we can't even begin to verify it. Still, with the upcoming Captain Marvel movie being set in the 1990s as well, the idea that a Black Widow movie could be set at the end of the same decade is certainly plausible. Even if this rumor is true, it doesn't even mean the entire movie will be a 90s period piece, as it could simply mean that part of the movie could flashback to the decade and show a young Black Widow, approximately 16 -years-old based on what we know of the character, perhaps with a storyline that connects to the modern day.
Based on the previously established MCU timeline for Black Widow, this would likely still put the character in her 'Red Room" years where she was still working for the Soviet Union. As such, the plot of the film could deal with how she broke away and eventually ended up working for S.H.I.E.L.D. There's certainly no argument that this would be a story fans would very likely want to see on the big screen.
The specific mention of Y2K is an interesting one. While it was a non-event in reality, perhaps in the MCU it was a real problem, or, perhaps it could have been a real problem, had it not been for whatever events take place in the movie. It's an interesting idea for a twist on reality that the film can obviously have some fun with.
This rumor would be at odds with some of what we had previously heard about when the film would be set, as earlier rumors indicated the movie could take place some 15 or so years after the fall of the Soviet Union. This would set the movie a good five or so years earlier than that. It makes one wonder whether Scarlett Johansson would actually play the role of Black Widow in scenes that take place in that era. Avengers: Age of Ultron did a good job aging the actress down for the brief flashbacks but one wonders if the new film can pull off making her appear 16 for large sequences or possibly an entire film.
With Marvel's entire next phase still being held close to the vest, it will probably be next year sometime before we get anything official about a Black Widow movie. Until then, we'll keep this rumor in mind and see if anything comes of it.
