The Marvel Cinematic Universe is in a fascinating place right now, as we're currently in the year interim between Phase Three's conclusion, and the eventual release of Cate Shortland's Black Widow. The upcoming solo movie will finally give Scarlett Johansson's signature character the opportunity to shine, allowing moviegoers to get to know the OG Avenger's mysterious and dark backstory. But she'll also get in plenty of action, and the movie will reportedly feature a different type of fight sequence.
Black Widow is set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, bridging the gap between that movie and Widow's eventual appearance in Avengers: Infinity War. The upcoming blockbuster will take Natasha back to Budapest, and it will also allow the title character to get her own adventure away from the rest of the Avengers. And that pivot should make the action far more 'visceral' in the upcoming blockbuster. As Black Widow writer Jac Schaeffer recently put it:
The fighting [in Black Widow] is a lot of close contact, hand-to-hand combat. It’s very visceral. There’s a lot of aggression and power in a very human way that I find really satisfying and really exciting to watch, but it’s the polar opposite to writing for super-powered characters.
Well, this is exciting. Because as the Marvel Cinematic Universe has gotten bigger and bigger, so has the spectacle of its action sequence. After all, there were more superpowered heroes than you could shake a stick at during the past two Avengers movies. So by comparison, Black Widow should bring something very unique to the table.
Jac Schaeffer's comments to Inverse are sure to excite the hardcore Marvel fans out there, who have been waiting patiently for years in until Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff finally got her own solo movie. Despite being an OG Avenger who dated back to Iron Man 2, Widow has never been given her own solo movie. And at the point of the character's death in Endgame, her mysterious sordid past was still largely a mystery to the audience.
Black Widow has always had an interesting role in the Avengers. Aside from being the heart of the group, the femme fatale is also notable for being one of the only non-superpowered heroes in he MCU. She's simply a very skilled fighter, who uses some high-tech gadgets to even the playing field. As such, we should expect her solo movie's action to be more grounded and visceral, which should be a refreshing juxtaposition to her last three appearances in the shared universe.
Related: Taskmaster: Everything You Need To Know About The Black Widow Villain
The Black Widow movie will introduce the villain Taskmaster to the MCU, who should be able to give the title character a run for her money. Taskmaster is able to immediately mimic the physical movements of his foes, so Natasha's signature leg scissor takedown might not be as effective against the new villain. And since she doesn't have superheroic vulnerability, each hit Nat takes should hit hard.
Black Widow is currently set to arrive in theaters on May 1st, 2020. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
