Black Widow (2021) | ScreenRant
Sebastian Wright
Published Mar 29, 2026
Officially announced in 2017, Black Widow is the first solo movie starring Natasha Romanoff and is set after the events of Captain America: Civil War and before Avengers: Infinity War. The film sheds light on Natasha's history, her family, and the Black Widow program, as well as what went down in Budapest, an event that is brought up a few times by Hawkeye and Black Widow. As a child, Natasha, along with younger "sister" Yelena Belova, is raised by Alexei and Melina, two agents of General Dreykov. On a mission to steal intel from SHIELD, Yelena and Natasha are kidnapped and taken to the Red Room, where they are indoctrinated and trained for missions and combat. Years later, Natasha joins SHIELD and leaves her Red Room days behind. However, she is drawn back to her old life after Yelena sends her a vial that counteracts the effects of the mind-control chemical that brainwashes Black Widows. Together with her "family," Natasha must fight back against Dreykov and confront her biggest regret after so long: Presumably killing Dreykov's daughter Antonia, who was in the crossfire of the Budapest mission to take him out.
Black Widow is the 24th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film was originally scheduled for release in May 2020, but was delayed to the following summer because of the global pandemic. However, because of theater closures and public risk factors, the MCU film was released simultaneously to theaters and on Disney+.
