It is a well-known fact that Kevin Feige and the team at Marvel Studios love to plan a few steps ahead with their upcoming projects and to think about the bigger picture when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the global COVID-19 pandemic having shut down most of the world and delaying the majority of studio tentpole film releases since March of 2020, have Marvel’s plans changed at all? If Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is to be believed, fans don’t have much to worry about when it comes to Marvel’s long-term plans being affected.
With the new Black Widow solo film starring Scarlett Johansson in theaters this week, we are finally getting a new MCU film since 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. Black Widow was originally set to release early last year but was delayed multiple times due to the ongoing global pandemic that saw most movie theaters shut down for public safety. This means the film has been delayed for well over a year from its original April 2020 release date. Marvel Studios’ entire film slate ended up pushed back and delayed several months, and some even seeing their release order shuffled around with other films.
So with all of these release date delays and calendar shuffles, how much did Marvel end up having to change the plans for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? While at the red carpet premiere of Black Widow, Kevin Feige recently revealed in an interview with OTRP that there was really only one change to what Marvel had planned… and it was less of a major change and more of an adjustment. Feige said:
There’s an Easter egg that originally was going to appear first in Black Widow and then show up in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and because [of] the pandemic, [it’s] the only thing in our Phase Four that’s twisted a little bit. So, for fans that watched Falcon and the Winter Soldier, there’s an Easter egg waiting for them in this film.
For fans who have been paying attention and are all caught up on their Marvel Studios Disney+ streaming shows,
*SPOILER ALERT*
Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was previously reported to be making her MCU debut in the new Black Widow film, rather than in The Falcon And The Winter Soldier where she ended up appearing to audiences first. It seems likely that this is the “twist” that Feige is referring to.
*END SPOILERS*
If that ends up being the case, it seems like Feige is right to downplay the severity of the change in plans. While that character is likely important to the plans for the future of the MCU, where they made their first appearance in the larger MCU is likely of little consequence in the long run. Still, we wouldn’t be surprised if this particular character were to make a big appearance in Black Widow when it releases later this week.
Marvel Studios’ Black Widow (2021) is set to release on Friday, July 9, 2021. The film stars Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, Olga Kurylenko, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, and Ray Winstone.
Do you plan on watching Black Widow when it’s released in theaters and on Disney+? What are you hoping to see from Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and be sure to stick around Geek Anything for more MCU updates!
