Avengers Endgame: When does the Black Widow solo movie take place? Is it AFTER Endgame?

Avengers: Endgame has brought a decade of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Three to an end, and its impact will be felt in Marvel movies to come. Avengers: Endgame is a continuation of 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War – in which mad Titan Thanos erased half of all living creatures in the universe from existence. The remaining Avengers fight in Endgame to restore the universe, in the three-hour long epic, full of laughs, tears and nostalgia. 

Warning: Serious spoilers for Avengers: Endgame below

When does the Black Widow solo movie take place?

Avengers: Endgame tore at the heartstrings of fans, with two iconic character’s deaths.

One of these was Iron Man – Tony Stark – (played by Robert Downey Jr), who cleverly switched gloves to take the Infinity Stones from Thanos (Josh Brolin), using them to wipe the mad Titan and his army from existence.

The Infinity Stones’ power proved too much for human Tony Stark and he died, breaking the hearts of fans around the world.

The second devastating death was Black Widow aka Natasha Romanov (Scarlett Johansson) who sacrificed herself so that Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) could live to see his family.

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The Avengers had time travelled to find the Infinity Stones, in order to reverse what Thanos had done in Infinity War.

Thanos had collected all six Infinity Stones, affixed them to a gauntlet and snapped his fingers to remove half of all living creatures from existence.

Widow and Hawkeye were tasked with retrieving the soul stone from the planet of Vormir, and to take possession of it they were given a terrible choice.

To take the soul stone, one person must lose something – or someone – they love.

After a struggle, Widow threw herself from a cliff, sacrificing herself so Hawkeye could take the soul stone.

Whilst the Avengers successfully returned the half of the universe which had vanished, Widow’s death seems final.

Fans are awaiting news of the long-anticipated Black Widow solo film, so her death in Avengers: Endgame means the film will most likely be a prequel.

This means the Black Widow movie could explore her past, previous adventures and friendship with Hawkeye.

The pair have joked about meeting in Budapest, and a prequel could finally shed light on what happened there.

Another option for the Black Widow movie could be set in the post-snap world, as Endgame makes a five-year time jump and skips over what happens immediately after half of all life vanished.

Whilst Widow holds one of the most important roles during this period by being in charge of the Avengers alongside Captain America (Chris Evans), some fans aren’t thrilled this could be the concept of her solo movie.

In Endgame, this five year period seems to allude to Widow spending a lot of her time hunting for Hawkeye who has turned into a violent vigilante after his family vanished.

This means if the Black Widow movie was set then, it would not be the origin story many fans crave.

However, another option could lie in the fact Captain America returned the Soul Stone to Vormir.

Does this mean Widow is resurrected? If that’s the case, when would she come back to life – 2014 or in the post-snap world 2023?

Time travel is a tricky topic to wrap your head around, but we will have to wait and see when the movie is set, and whether we learn about Widow’s dark history.

Avengers: Endgame is in cinemas in the UK and USA now