Black widow case study

• Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)

  The number 1 global movie franchise in terms of box office takings
• MCU now has 33 related films beginning with 2008's Iron Man, that share the 'cinematic universe'
• MCU business model

  Built on the premise of regular film releases and associated merchandising opportunities
• Avengers Endgame is the Highest Grossing Movie of all time with $2.797 billion
• Black Widow


  Owned by Marvel, which is part of The Walt Disney Company, one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world
• Black Widow

  • 24th Marvel comic film
  • Superhero movie but also borrows from the action and spy genres
• Vertical integration


  Marvel Cinematic Universe (owned by Disney) in its production, marketing and distribution of Black Widow is an example of
• Black Widow was released

  July 9th, 2021
• Black Widow is the 24th film in the MCU and the 1st in Phase 4 - this means a new set of films set outside of the story leading up to Avengers Endgame
• Black Widow is only the second Marvel film to centre on a female character, after Captain Marvel in 2019
• Scarlett Johansson


  One of the highest paid actresses in the world, topping the list in 2019
• Black Widow premiered

  June 29th 2021
• Black Widow was on general release

  July 9th 2021
• Prior to this, cinemas had been closed during the pandemic and lockdown
• Upon re-opening, cinema audiences were initially smaller as audiences were nervous to attend indoor venues, social-distancing measures were implemented in cinemas and streaming services were improved so that audiences could watch their content at home easily and safely
• All of these factors meant that the box office revenues for Black Widow were much smaller than other MCU films
• However, it was the largest and fastest opening since the COVID-19 pandemic and must be seen as successful within this context
• The failure to have an extended cinema release was very contentious as the star, Scarlett Johansson, stated that the simultaneous release excused Disney from paying "very large box office bonuses" to her
• Johansson alleged that the film's simultaneous release on Disney+ (which launched in july 9th) breached a stipulation in her contract that the film receive a traditional theatrical release
• The lawsuit was settled in August 2021 under undisclosed terms, though Deadline Hollywood reported that Johansson would receive over $40 million from Disney
• Women make up 12% of directors and writers
• Ethnic minorities make up 20% of lead characters
• Following the #MeToo movement, which highlighted the underrepresentation of diversity (gender and ethnicity), Johansson wanted the film to comment on the movement which saw women supporting each other
• Marvel began meeting with female directors to potentially take on the project, part of a priority push by major film studios to hire female directors for franchises
• Cate Shortland was hired
• Star Power


  Where an actor (Scarlett Johansson in this case) is able to be capable of guaranteeing box-office success simply by appearing in a movie
• The audience for Black Widow (and MCU in general) is very broad
• It appeals to all ages, different genders (think male gaze and powerful female character)
• The film's production was announced

  Comic Con 2019
• A release date of May 2020 was announced
• With the COVID19 pandemic the film release was delayed a number of times
• This placed particular challenges on the marketing campaign for Black Widow as they tried to maintain interest in the film after numerous delays
• Original poster for May 1 2020 release


  • Focuses on black costume and red symbol
• The 2021 marketing campaign needed a fresh look as Disney felt people were bored by the 2020 marketing
• Posters also linked to the Avengers movies to draw in loyal MCU audiences
• Disney were worried that the film would not make enough money to cover the costs of production
• Reminding audiences of the link to the huge franchise would guarantee audiences would be interested
• Marketing campaign

  1. Drip feed different trailers over several months

  2. First trailer: released Dec 2019 Views: 48 million+

  3. Second trailer: 'Special Look' released Jan 2020 Views: 4 million

  4. Third trailer: released March 2020 Views: 32 million+

  5. Final trailer: released March 2020 Views: 21 million+
• Targeted promotions

  • Exclusive footage shown via a commercial aired during the College Football Playoffs on ESPN in January 2020
  • Marvel Comics had three Black Widow comics already on the schedule for May, all of them focusing on characters that would be seen in the movie
  • Disney went to huge expense to showcase a Black Widow trailer during the Super Bowl American Football final (Feb 2020)
  • Toys based on the film were shown off at ToyFair in February
  • Black Widow skins were released on Fortnite
  • Black Widow got Special Look previews as part of MTV Movie and TV Award show
  • Black Widow stars (Rachel Weisz) appeared on famous chat shows (Jimmy Kimmel Live) to talk about the movie
  • Another chat show appearance for Florence Pugh this time
  • BMW has a campaign that shows the company's cars executing some of the movie's big driving stunts
• Fortnite skin marketing strategy


  Targeted a young teenage audience as they are the predominant Fortnite gaming audience