Black Widow age rating, parents guide and UK release date

After the momentous events of Avengers End Game, Marvel is stepping back in time with the Black Widow film, which had a UK release date in early summer 2021 (see details below, along with the latest on the age rating, our parents guide notes, details for the storyline, cast, and the trailer). Scarlett Johansson will be back in the role, and while the character may not have much in the way of superpowers as such, she makes up for them with sheer skill and intelligence to be one of the coolest members of the Avengers.

It’s definitely an emotional journey following the dramatic events of Endgame and what we know about Natasha Romanoff’s troubled past as a KGB assassin. The character made her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2010 in Iron Man 2 where she was an undercover spy for S.H.I.E.L.D., going on to help Stark take down Vanko.

Then when the Avengers assembled to take on the invading forces of the Chitauri, she became one of the founding members of the programme. The Black Widow film will be her 9th appearance in the MCU and the big question is whether or not it will go on to be her dark swan song.

Cast

Joining Scarlet Johansson in the cast is fellow Endgame legend Robert Downey Jr. who puts in yet another performance as Tony Stark / Iron Man. The other returning character is Thaddeus Ross with William Hurt back in the role following his previous appearance in Captain America Civil War before reprising the role again for Avengers Infinity War and Endgame.

New additions to the MCU include the brilliant David Harbour (Stranger Things) who will play Captain America’s Soviet counterpart The Red Guardian / Alexei, and Rachel Weisz as a character called Melina, part of the Black Widow program. Florence Pugh has been cast as Yelena and O-T Fagbenle plays fixer Mason.

We’ll update things here with more details about the cast as they’re confirmed.

Black Widow film UK release date

The Black Widow UK release date was Wednesday the 7th July 2021 following a long delay due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. It was initially due to come out on the 1st May 2020. It was out in cinemas in the USA and Canada on the same date, so UK cinema goers did’t need to worry about US spoilers before it coming out in Britain.

There weren’t any other big films out on the same weekend in the UK, so the Natasha Romanoff story was green lite to take the number one spot at the British box office. It faced a little competition from Fast & Furious 9, which continued it’s run at the box office, and then there are plenty more films out later in July as the movie industry looks set for resurgence.

Black Widow will be available to stream on Disney+ UK on the 6th October 2021.

You can follow us on Twitter to see more news and updates on upcoming films, and you can see more on the film in the run up to the release with the official Marvel Studios Twitter page at https://twitter.com/marvelstudios.

UK age rating and parents guide

The film picked up a 12 certificate in the US and the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has officially announced the official Black Widow film age rating for the UK as 12A in line with the rating for most Marvel Cinematic Universe films. Endgame, for example, was a 12A too with parents guide notes of moderate violence, so it’s no surprise that the 2021 MCU phase 4 kick-off has been given the same rating.

Even with Natasha’s checkered past, there was little chance of it getting anywhere near the levels of violence, gore, language and sex of Red Sparrow, which had an age rating of 15, or Logan, which came out as an 18. This is a Disney and Marvel Studios production, so parents can use the ratings for previous films as a good guide and there isn’t a single film in the MCU that goes beyond 12.

As with the age rating, the runtime for the BW film didn’t get confirmed until the release date approached. It’s a hefty 2 hours and 12 minutes, which puts it firmly in the ball park for previous MCU films. Avengers: Endgame blitzed this at a minute over 3 hours, but this is definitely a unique exception that won’t be matched in a while. You can see more on the film on the Marvel website at https://www.marvel.com/movies/black-widow.

Story synopsis

The Black Widow story synopsis is essentially what Natasha got up to between Captain America Civil War and Avengers Infinity War. Finding herself on her own, she’s forced to confront her past as a KGB assassin as part of the Soviet government’s Black Widow program.

This will include facing off against other members of the program that trained women to become highly skilled assassin’s working for the Russian intelligence organisation. It’ll also see her involved with Soviet super soldier Red Guardian, who in the comic books is Natasha’s husband. We’re not expecting this to be the case for the film, but there’s bound to be a slightly complicated relationship at the heart of the story.