Marvel Studios' Black Widow: Final Trailer

This is the final trailer for Marvel's Black Widow (US, 2021) movie, directed by Cate Shortland and starring Scarlett Johansson.

Cate is the first Australian and the first solo woman to direct a Marvel movie.

Without a history of films in the action genre, Cate might have felt like an odd fit for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But in this trailer and its themes there is evidence of her striking visual attention to detail in the set design and focus on interpersonal and family relationships with the framing around Black Widow's pre-Avengers family.

Cate's interest in flawed heroines aligns perfectly with Black Widow's confession, 'Before I was an Avenger I made mistakes ... and a lot of enemies'.

Like her other films, especially Lore (2012) and Berlin Syndrome (2017), the Black Widow trailer alludes to dramatic life-and-death situations, with Black Widow finding herself in grave danger. However it's great to see a light touch in the humour used in the sequences with Johansson's Natasha and her found family played by Florence Pugh as Yelena, Rachel Weisz as Melina and David Harbour as Alexei/Red Guardian.

This is a fine example of a final feature film trailer. It does more than tease the film – it summarises the storyline without giving all the secrets away. It presents the main characters, their motivations and the relationships between them. The action sequences and fast-paced editing pull you in and make you want to see more.

Black Widow was finally released on 8 July 2021 after the original release date in May 2020 was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.