There has been a lot of discussion on where in the MCU timeline does the plot of Black Widow take place. Thanks to SDCC 2019, we know that the movie definitely is a prequel, but we won't be jumping as far back as we thought.
It was revealed during the panel (via Mr. Sunday Movies) that the movie would be taking place after the events of Captain America: Civil War, and it looks like a lot of people from Widow's past will be back to confront her. David Harbour (Stranger Things, Hellboy), for one, is playing Alexi Shostakov a.k.a. The Red Guardian. In the comics, Shostakov was actually the husband of Natasha while they were both working for the Soviets. We don't know if that relationship is going to bleed over to the film, but I love the idea that we've barely scratched the surface of Widow's past despite having her in the MCU for almost 10 years.
As for the main villain, it's suspected to be the Taskmaster, and we have some official concept art that was released having Widow go up against him. In the comics, Taskmaster was an expert hand-to-hand combatant, and he had the special ability of mimicking any fighting style he sees. We don't really know how he'll translate in the film, but hopefully they come up with something to make him more formidable or scary.
Black Widow is the first film for MCU's Phase 4 and is set to come out May 1, 2020.
See Also: Black Widow: Stranger Things' David Harbour is Playing the Russian Captain America—Red Guardian
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