Standalone 'Black Widow' Film Rumored to Be Rated R

Marvel Studios' upcoming Black Widow movie is not expected to be released until sometime in 2020, but there are already rumors about the direction the studio will go with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Many believe the film will showcase Natasha Romanova's backstory, which would most likely be darker than any story the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever featured due to its graphic nature.

In fact, Charles Murphy of That Hashtag Show took to Twitter yesterday to report he heard rumors back in Dec. 2017 that Marvel was considering making the movie R-rated, which would ultimately make it the first movie in MCU history with such a rating.

Here's something I don't think I've ever talked about. When I first heard they were developing the Black Widow film, I also heard they were discussing whether or not to make it Marvel Studios first R-rated film.
— Charles Murphy (@CharlesMurphTHS) January 12, 2019

It's unknown if Marvel has closed the door on making the film R-rated, but the strong rating would make some sense. Black Widow was recruited as an assassin at just eight years old, and was a cold-blooded, notorious teenage killer before being persuaded by Hawkeye to join S.H.I.E.L.D.

Fans on social media have made it known they would support an R-rating for the upcoming movie.

Hell yeah?????? make it happen @Marvel
— Dequan Seely (@dequan_seely) January 12, 2019

With Disney wanting the Deadpool franchise to continue, future R-rated Marvel films are not out the realm of possibility.