The film was directed by Cate Shortland from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow alongside Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz.

Mostly set during the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), the film sees Romanoff on the run and forced to confront her past as a Russian spy before she became an Avenger.

In 1995, super soldier Alexei Shostakov and Black Widow assassin Melina Vostokoff work as Russian undercover agents, posing as a family in Ohio with Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova as their daughters.

Additionally, Liani Samuel, Michelle Lee, and Nanna Blondell appear as Red Room assassins Lerato, Oksana, and Ingrid, respectively,[46][57] while Jade Xu portrays another Black Widow who was later identified as Helen in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).

[42][59] The film's post-credits scene sees Julia Louis-Dreyfus reprising her role as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine from the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) in an uncredited cameo appearance.

[78] That July, Hayter expressed interest in reviving the project for Marvel,[79] while director Neil Marshall said a month later that he "would love to do a Black Widow film".

[80] In April 2015, Johansson spoke more on the possibility of a solo Black Widow film, seeing the potential to explore the character's different layers as depicted in her previous appearances.

"[85] Due to the development work already done and the public support for the project, Marvel Studios decided to move forward with the film at the beginning of the MCU's Phase Four in 2020 following the conclusion of the Infinity Saga storyline in Endgame.

[92] By the end of April 2018, the studio had met with over 65 directors for the project in an "extremely thorough" search,[93] including Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Chloé Zhao—who went on to direct Marvel's Eternals (2021)[94]—Amma Asante,[92] and Lynn Shelton.

[96] Coralie Fargeat was in contention following the success of her film Revenge (2017), but chose to develop The Substance (2024) instead believing Marvel would not give her final cut privilege.

[106] In February 2019, Ned Benson was hired to rewrite the script,[107] and Feige confirmed that, despite rumors, the studio did not want the film to receive an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association.

[42] Eric Pearson, who started his writing career in Marvel's screenwriting program and went on to work on several MCU projects, was hired during pre-production to rewrite the film's script again.

An anamorphic format was chosen to highlight the expansive movements and landscapes in the film, with a special system used that split the camera's image sensor from its body to help with this approach.

[135] 13 BMW X3s were used to create a car chase involving Romanoff and Belova in Budapest, with the crew often switching off the electronic stability control and safety assistance functions to be able to do what the script asked for.

[38] The film's visual effects vendors included Cinesite, Digital Domain, Industrial Light & Magic, Mammal Studios, SSVFX, Scanline VFX, Trixter, and Wētā FX.

The car chase scene in Budapest features a practical tank driven by Taskmaster that was created by Paul Corbould, the film's special effects supervisor.

His discussions with Shortland led to him writing an original piece in the style of Russian folk music that he thought Romanoff and Belova may have grown up listening to.

Additional custom partnerships occurred with Fandango, YouTube, Roku, TikTok, and Amazon, with a Twitter E3 gaming sponsorship as well as announcements, posters, and collectibles for premium theater experiences such as IMAX.

Kareem Daniel, the chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, said the simultaneous release gave fans options to see the film while serving the "evolving preferences of audiences".

[211] Vulture contributor Chris Lee opined that not having any planned appearances in future MCU projects might have influenced Johansson's decision to move forward with filing the lawsuit.

[212] Disney issued a statement in response to the suit, saying it had "no merit whatsoever" and that Johansson had shown a "callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic".

[219] In response to these criticisms, Disney attorney Daniel Petrocelli called the suit a "highly orchestrated [public relations] campaign to achieve an outcome that is not obtainable in a lawsuit".

[214] In August 2021, Disney filed a motion to move the lawsuit to arbitration, citing that Black Widow had outgrossed other MCU films in its opening weekend with an "impressive pandemic-era showing".

[223] Johansson's attorney John Berlinski criticized this move as an attempt by Disney to "hide its misconduct in a confidential arbitration", while calling the company's initial response to the case misogynistic.

[227] In November 2021, Johansson said in regards to the lawsuit that she felt "very fortunate that nobody will have to go through what I went through" and thought the case had made "a positive impact in the industry and hopefully for artists and creatives' lives and livelihood[s].

[238] Box office analysts attributed Black Widow's second-week decline to its Disney+ Premier Access release, as well as widely reported piracies of the film online.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Black Widow's deeper themes are drowned out in all the action, but it remains a solidly entertaining standalone adventure that's rounded out by a stellar supporting cast.

He positively compared the film's fight sequences to the Bourne franchise and said, "If this is the last time we get to see Johansson mete out justice to her assailants with gymnastic velocity, it's an apt send-off.

[266] Ann Hornaday at The Washington Post had similar thoughts, noting the set-up for Pugh to continue in the franchise and feeling the film did not make up for Johansson getting "short shrift" in earlier MCU installments.

[154] In June 2021, Shortland expressed interest in directing another film in the MCU, and noted that a potential sequel to Black Widow would likely revolve around a different character following Romanoff's death.