Black Widow ‘Coming Soon’ to Disney+ Hotstar in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada

Black Widow most likely won’t release in theatres once it’s on Disney+ Hotstar.

By Akhil Arora | Updated: 15 July 2021 12:22 IST

Black Widow ‘Coming Soon’ to Disney+ Hotstar in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada

Photo Credit: Disney/Marvel Studios

Florence Pugh, Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow

Highlights

Black Widow released July 9 on Disney+ Premier Access elsewhere
Marvel movie looking at straight-to-streaming premiere in India
Some Indian states have allowed cinemas to reopen, most closed

Black Widow is “coming soon” to Disney+ Hotstar in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada, the streaming service announced Thursday. It will be available in all six languages on Disney+ Hotstar Premium (that costs Rs. 299 per month or Rs. 1,499 per year), and in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada on Disney+ Hotstar VIP (that costs Rs. 399 per year). Disney+ Hotstar wouldn't be drawn on an exact release date just yet for the latest Marvel movie, simply noting that it would update “very soon.” It looks like Black Widow is going straight-to-streaming in India.

That makes sense. After all, cinemas are currently shut in most states nationwide, following a debilitating second wave of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Maharashtra was the first to allow theatres to reopen with 50 percent capacity, but it reversed its decision in June. That said, earlier in July, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana relaxed restrictions on cinemas, and more states are expected to follow suit later in the month. Universal Pictures has shown itself to be an early mover, slating Fast & Furious 9 for an August 5 release in India, even though it's unclear how many cinemas it might play on.

More than a spy. More than an Avenger. It's time to tell her story. Marvel Studios' #BlackWidow is coming soon! pic.twitter.com/RD003I0BbH
— Disney+HotstarPremium (@DisneyplusHSP) July 15, 2021

More than a spy. More than an Avenger. It's time to tell her story. Marvel Studios' #BlackWidow is coming soon in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. pic.twitter.com/tEYadomtza
— Disney+HotstarVIP (@DisneyplusHSVIP) July 15, 2021

But unlike Disney, Universal doesn't have a streaming service of its own in India. It's impossible to say when India's theatrical market will get back to a stable footing, and Disney understandably doesn't want to wait on that. It's funny that they didn't move on this sooner, like I had argued. Black Widow released day-and-date last week in cinemas and on Disney+ Premier Access in most Disney+ markets. That (naturally) led to high-quality pirated versions of Black Widow appearing on torrent sites minutes after its premiere. Disney+ Hotstar is already playing catch up here.

The other major problem was going to be the diminishing box office returns for Black Widow the longer Disney India held onto the film. But now that it's going directly to Disney+ Hotstar, there's little chance that Indian exhibitors will even accept the Marvel movie for the big screen. Still, it's good to see a studio serve the fans for once — albeit belatedly.

Black Widow is “coming soon” to Disney+ Hotstar in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada.

Is Mi 11X the best phone under Rs. 35,000? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Later (starting at 23:50), we jump over to the Marvel series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Black Widow, Black Widow release date in India, Disney Plus Hotstar, Disney Plus Hotstar VIP, Disney Plus Hotstar Premium, Marvel, MCU, Disney, Disney India