Black Widow is now officially delayed by coronavirus

Black Widow is delayed until further notice

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Black Widowis being delayed from its May 1 release date until further notice,Marvelhas announced today (thanks,Deadline). It follows as cinema chains around the world have been closing due to coronavirus.

Black Widow’s delay was looking like a dead cert after two major US cinema chains announced they were shut for the time being, with AMC saying it’ll be closed for “at least 6-12 weeks”. Regal, meanwhile, has released a statement that all theaters will be closed “until further notice”. In the UK, cinema chains Cineworld and Odeon are closing until further notice, too.

AMC’s timeline crosses over with Black Widow’s previous May 1 release date, which hurt the movie’s chances of releasing in its original timeframe.

WhileBlack Widow’s final trailerwas released on March 9, the situation around coronavirus has escalated drastically in the US since then. Disney previously moved Mulan and The New Mutants off the release schedule, but now Black Widow is joining it.

Here’s what could happen next with the latest Marvel movie.

What will happen to the MCU now Black Widow has been delayed?

This is an interesting conundrum for Marvel, but the truth is it’s likely that all MCU movies and shows will be pushed back by coronavirus. All MarvelDisney Plusshows shooting right now have shut down production for time being, which includesThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki andWandaVision.

ADeadline reportfrom March 4 mentioned a rumor heard among exhibitors that Black Widow could move back to November 24, which is when fellow MCU movie The Eternals is due out. But for now we can’t be sure what will happen while the situation is developing.

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Coronavirus, too, means upcoming MCU movies won’t actually be able to start shooting, so it’s likely this will have a ripple effect on the entire set of Marvel projects.

Samuel is a PR Manager at game developer Frontier. Formerly TechRadar’s Senior Entertainment Editor, he’s an expert in Marvel, Star Wars, Netflix shows and general streaming stuff. Before his stint at TechRadar, he spent six years at PC Gamer. Samuel is also the co-host of the popular Back Page podcast, in which he details the trials and tribulations of being a games magazine editor – and attempts to justify his impulsive eBay games buying binges.

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