Kevin Feige reveals how much Marvel Phase 4 was changed by delays

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has revealed the impact of delays caused by the pandemic on Marvel Phase 4.

Speaking to On The Red Carpet at a Black Widow event, the Marvel boss explained that, despite the pandemic shuffling the Phase 4 release slate around, no substantial alterations had to be made. "There's also an Easter egg that originally was going to appear first in Black Widow, and then show up in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and because of the pandemic – it's the only thing within our Phase 4 that was twisted a little bit. So for fans that watched Falcon and the Winter Soldier, there's something waiting for them as an Easter egg in this film."

Originally, Phase 4 would have kicked off with Black Widow, and continued with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, then WandaVision. Due to the pandemic, this all happened backwards in the end. 

It's already been revealed that Julia-Louis Dreyfus' Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was supposed to make her MCU debut in Black Widow, but ended up appearing in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier first. It sounds like the Easter egg Feige talked about might be related to an appearance from this character, then – but whether we learn more about the shadowy schemes she seems to have in play remains to be seen.

Feige also spoke about the impact the lengthy delay had on Black Widow. "I believe George Lucas once said – I attribute it to him, I'm not sure – that movies are not finished, they're just sort of taken away, they're just sent out into the world. For sure [at] Marvel Studios that's the way we work right up until the last minute, and then they're released in theaters. In this case, that was delayed, so we did continue working on it for a few months past what we were supposed to, which was just good and allows us to keep plussing it. But it was a new experience to have a movie that was just finished, and just waiting for the world to open up again."

Black Widow arrives to UK cinemas this July 7, and lands in US theaters and on Disney Plus Premier Access this July 9. Until then, check out how to watch Marvel movies in order to get up to speed on the MCU – and find the best Disney Plus prices and deals.