Two big questions fans had about the upcoming Black Widow film is where in the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline it sits and what story it will tell given that she’s, you know, dead.
These were seemingly answered when eagle-eyed fans snapped a few photos on the set of the film, revealing that it will be set between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War.
But it seems like Marvel had an extra trick up its sleeve as apparently the film will also dive into Natasha Romanoff’s backstory while also paying off one of the best gags that was introduced in The Avengers: Budapest.
During Marvel’s stacked 2019 Comic-Con panel, the comic book behemoth trotted out the long-awaited first look of the Black Widow film and revealed that at least part of it will indeed take place in Budapest prior to any MCU movie we’ve seen.
While it was short on story, the screened footage is reportedly full of arse-kicking scenes that includes a sizzle reel celebrating the character, Natasha and her “sister” Yelena greeting each other in Budapest with a bout of fisticuffs, and David Harbour as some sort of Russian Captain America.
It all sounds awesome and feels like Marvel is doing its own version of the gritty, Jason Bourne-esque action film. But let’s be honest, the biggest thing anyone is here for is the Budapest stuff. After eight years of pondering over that seemingly throwaway one-line gag, we’re finally getting a much-delayed pay off. Good things come to those who wait I suppose.
This also throws up a question of whether Hawkeye will appear in the film as a sort of secret character since he and Natasha “remember Budapest very differently” to each other. While he was under house arrest between Civil War and Infinity War, who knows what he was up to prior to the MCU films.
Maybe he was a rival agent? Perhaps they accidentally crossed paths and ended up being BFFs? Or maybe they had a secret European fling before Clint met his lovely wife? It’s all up in the air.
There’s still a bit of a wait before we see anything as Black Widow is penciled in for a May 1, 2020 release, so there’s plenty of time to speculate what exactly went down in Budapest that left such lasting memories for Natasha (and Hawkeye).