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Xbox has gone on quite the spending spree, acquiring studios for its Xbox Game Studios family including teams like Obsidian, Ninja Theory, and Zenimax Media. This has been the source of rampant discussion about the nature of studio acquisitions in the games industry, but Spencer says he thinks it is a healthy part of the business.

Speaking to Unlocked for its 500th episode, Spencer spoke at length about the role of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) within the games industry, especially since Xbox and Microsoft are big facilitators of them.

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“I know sometimes I see dialogue out in the industry about, well, are acquisitions a good thing or a bad thing,” says Spencer before congratulating Sony on their acquisition of Housemarque announced earlier today.

“One thing I’ll put out there is… starting a new studio — starting any small business, frankly, is a very risky proposition, starting a video game studio even more so. And if a team actually takes the risk of starting a new company, starting a new studio, building that over years, building value in that. To say they shouldn’t sell, I think, is just short-sighted.”

Spencer says that the value of growing a business to become something valuable is part of why creative teams start new studios in the first place. The immense risk it takes to start a new company is the potential reward that comes with it, and Spencer says “M&A is absolutely a part of that.”

Spencer clarified that not every new company has to sell and that there are a lot of studios that can fail. But successful teams growing and potentially getting acquired “is a natural and healthy part of our industry.”

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“It’s such a risk-filled journey for them to get to the point to create real value. I’m always going to congratulate when teams get to the point where they realize that value through acquisition or just massive independent success… many of those leaders will go off and start other things over time. It’s kind of the natural turnover that happens with entrepreneurs and startup businesses. And for us, we’re always out there looking at where we could continue to build our first-party capability and looking at teams that we think would be good fits for us.”

It is certainly true to say that leaders who create successful businesses can go off and try it again. Mike Morhaime, the former Blizzard Entertainment president, recently departed the studio he co-founded to start a new studio, Dreamhaven.

One thing is clear, however, and that is that the games industry like any other industry will have new companies pop up, and if there’s a business opportunity for an M&A, bigger companies like Microsoft, Sony, EA, or others will consider them.

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For more from the 500th episode of Unlocked, check out IGN’s round-up from our Phil Spencer interview, and why it’s the perfect time to bring back Joanna Dark for a new game.

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Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s News Editor.

The Xbox Series X/S home consoles have been out for a little over seven months. As the one-year anniversary for both consoles draws near, Microsoft has reaffirmed that its current console models are here to stay, with no hardware refreshes expected anytime soon.

During the 500th episode of Podcast Unlocked, Xbox head Phil Spencer discussed the hardware road map for both consoles and noting that he does not expect either console to have a model refresh in the near future. “There’s nothing that’s going to come out next year that’s going to make you feel like, oh, I should have waited,” Spencer told IGN. “These are the consoles that we have in markets for years. And we built them with that in mind, and I love the tech that’s in there and that capability, and that’s where our focus is going.”

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With Spencer seemingly confirming that the future-proof build of both the Series X/S, it feels unlikely that either console will see a model refresh. During the previous generation, Microsoft released the Xbox One, which lasted for three years until it was succeeded by the Xbox One S in 2016. A year later, Microsoft released the Xbox One X, which gave the original hardware a substantial boost. In 2019, Microsoft released an all-digital version of the Xbox One S.

“We don’t have to go do hardware just to go do it. We want to do hardware because it actually creates new opportunities,” Spencer states regarding the Xbox Series X/S. “And I’ve said before, it could be at the lower end that we find more immediate opportunities.”

Yet, Spencer did not shut down the possibility of the future hardware models launching in the Xbox Series lineup as the company continues to explore ways to get more people playing Xbox products and services. On the question of a potential update in the future, Spencer says the team is “having those conversations right now.”

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“I’ve said before, it could be at the lower end that we find more immediate opportunities. There’s something for us to do that allows more people to play with xCloud,” Spencer said. “Is there something to do at a higher-end? We’re having those discussions right now. I love the capability of the hardware team and it will be kind of a constant conversation.”

This comes with no surprise for Xbox as the company has made it clear that as it expands the Xbox ecosystem to other devices like smart TVs and streaming sticks, the Xbox game console hardware will continue to remain the “flagship experience” for people looking to experience games through the Xbox brand.

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Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Shortly after Microsoft launched the Xbox Series X|S last year, it announced Perfect Dark, an attempt to revive the cult classic Nintendo 64 shooter. Little is known about the revival save that it will be a reboot by The Initiative, a new studio headed by veteran Darrell Gallagher, but Xbox boss Phil Spencer offered some insight into Microsoft’s thinking in reviving the series more than 20 years after its original release.

According to Spencer in an interview with Podcast Unlocked for its 500th episode, the decision to revive Perfect Dark was made before Gallagher even joined Xbox. Gallagher has a long history in the games industry, having served as the head of development at publishers including Activision and Crystal Dynamics. Spencer says that Xbox pitched Gallagher on multiple opportunities, one of them being the opportunity to revive Rare’s Nintendo 64 classic.

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“Obviously [Gallagher] had a great track record at [Crystal Dynamics], and the work that he had done with Warcraft and the re-imagining of Tomb Raider. So when we were looking at different opportunities, one that we brought up was Joanna and Perfect Dark, and it was something that he was excited about in the end,” Spencer says.

According to Spencer, a key consideration in reviving Perfect Dark is being able to feature a game with a female protagonist. “I think it’s awesome for us. We can focus on a female protagonist in our lineup. We don’t have a lot of that in our first-party [lineup].”

This has been changing in recent years. For example, Gears 5’s hero is Kait Diaz, who has succeeded Marcus Fenix as arguably the franchise’s main protagonist. Hellblade, a franchise recently acquired alongside Ninja Theory, is another example. Nevertheless, Spencer says Xbox sees an opportunity to continue building out its first-party catalog on that front. “I think Joanna offers a lot of modern opportunities that I love to see the team kind of focusing on, having a strong protagonist.”

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As for Gallagher, Spencer says that working on Perfect Dark wasn’t an ultimatum, “It didn’t have to be, ‘Hey Darrell, come and do Perfect Dark or don’t come to Microsoft.'” But ultimately, The Initiative and Xbox opted to go forward with the new game together, and its team was formed with that goal in mind.

Microsoft announced Perfect Dark at The Game Awards in late 2020. Like the original, it will be a “secret agent thriller set in a near-future world,” but otherwise Microsoft and The Initiative have remained tight-lipped about the revival. The original game was released on the Nintendo 64 in 2000 and was followed by an Xbox 360 sequel in 2005, which received lukewarm reviews.

It is the first game to be developed by The Initiative, a Santa Monica-based studio formed in 2018. No release date yet, but it is rumored to be set for a 2023 launch.

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Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

Podcast Unlocked celebrated 500 episodes today with special guest Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s Xbox division.

Hosts Ryan McCaffrey, Miranda Sanchez, and Destin Legare spoke with Spencer at length about the state of Xbox and covered a range of topics from upcoming games like Perfect Dark and Halo Infinite, to Xbox’s continued journey with Bethesda, to the next five years for Xbox and beyond.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways from IGN Unlocked’s interview.

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The Challenges of the Xbox One Era Informs Xbox Today

It is Xbox’s 20th anniversary this year and when asked about the journey that has led to the Xbox Series X era, and effectively the Phil Spencer era, the Xbox boss said that this journey began, surprisingly, with the Xbox One launch.

“It was such a seminal moment for the team in checking, ‘what did we stand for? What did we want to be as we went forward?’” Spencer said on Unlocked. “For the brand, it was a challenging year, there was a lot for us to learn.”

The Xbox One launch was a struggle and that infamous E3 presentation seemed to focus more on Xbox One as a confusing entertainment hub rather than a game console. But the Xbox Series X is positioning games front-and-center with tools like backward compatibility and Game Pass.

“So much of what we are today is from that first year of the Xbox One where we got a real cold dose of reality in focusing on not what the customers wanted but what we thought we needed,” Spencer says. But he notes today’s Xbox team is much different and better-positioned to meet the demands of the community. 

Engagement Is the Key Metric of Success for Xbox

One of Xbox’s most successful features is Xbox Game Pass, a monthly subscription service where members can access a library of games on console, PC, and the cloud. But according to Spencer, the key metric for Xbox isn’t whether or not a player is buying games or consoles, but if they’re engaging with the Xbox platform.

“The number one metric that we can look at to see if our business is actually growing is, ‘are people playing more on the platform?’ There’s nothing about review scores, there’s nothing about retail sales of console, or retail sale of games; the number one sign that our platform is healthy and growing is actually engagement on the platform,” Spencer says.

To that end, this is what Game Pass is helping to grow, and as a result, Spencer says Xbox as a business is profitable.

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Phil Spencer Would Like to Acquire More Family-Friendly Content for Xbox

In the past Spencer has spoken about holes in the Xbox portfolio, mentioning he would like to acquire a Japanese game developer if able. But with the Xbox Game Studio family growing, Spencer says another opportunity could be family-friendly content.

“When I look at the portfolio I still think there’s an opportunity for us with more family-friendly content,” says Spencer. He adds that more geographically diverse teams are also a priority, further feeding into the desire to acquire Japanese or even European teams. “When I think about the geographic diversity of our first-party studios I think there’s still work for us to do there.”

Joanna Dark Can Bring More Leading Ladies to Xbox

There’s a new Perfect Dark game in the works and Spencer says that this is an opportunity to bring more leading women to Xbox. “I think it’s awesome for us. We can focus on a female protagonist in our lineup. We don’t have a lot of that in our first-party [lineup],” says Spencer. “I think Joanna offers a lot of modern opportunities that I love to see the team focusing on, having a strong protagonist.”

There Aren’t Any Xbox Studios Using id Tech… Yet

The Zenimax acquisition brought a lot of new developers to Xbox, but also proprietary technology like id Software’s id Tech. But according to Spencer, it’s still early days, and integrating technology with Xbox teams hasn’t started, yet.

“I like to say the paints still wet on us getting the Bethesda Xbox Game Studios together [and] in a world of COVID it’s even more difficult,” Spencer says.

Currently, Spencer confirms that there are discussions, but no Xbox Game Studios team is using id Tech right now, nor is there a mandate to force teams to use id Tech if they don’t want to.

“There’ll be a lot of tech integrations that we can do over the years, but we’re just so early in that journey I wouldn’t want to overstep where we are in any of those conversations.”

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The Next Thing Xbox Wants to Announce for Halo Infinite Is a Release Date

Spencer previously confirmed that the holiday of 2021 is the goal for Halo Infinite’s release date and that the team at Xbox already has a good idea of a launch window, but the hope is Xbox and 343 will have a date the next time they go in-depth on Halo Infinite.

“We’re working on the exact date, the next thing for us is to say a day,” Spencer revealed. Furthermore, when the day is announced, Spencer says other teams will move out of the way to ensure Halo Infinite has the space it needs for a holiday launch.

Xbox Still Wants to Make Limited-Edition Consoles

The silicon chip shortage has been a major tech story this year and has hampered companies like PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo from delivering the number of consoles they’d like. And while Xbox is budgeting its silicon and making “balanced trade-offs,” Xbox is still keen to release limited edition consoles when appropriate.

“I don’t think we want to give up on our ability to do limited edition consoles and other things,” Spencers says. “I’m not announcing any of them today, but I do think there’ll be certain moments that are going to be special that we’ll want to be able to celebrate. At the same time, the chip shortage will be with us for a while and I continue to apologize for that.”

“You know who knew when we launched these — when we were planning on these consoles that it would be more about supply chain management than the actual technology in the box.”

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There Won’t Be an Xbox Series X Pro Anytime Soon

Last generation, PlayStation and Xbox introduced half-step upgrades with systems like the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X. But Spencer says there’s nothing coming out in the next year that will make players regret their Xbox Series X purchase.

“These are the consoles that we have in markets for years and we built them with that in mind. And I love the tech that’s in there and the capability and that’s where our focus is going,” Spencer says.

For the full interview with Phil Spencer be sure to check out Podcast Unlocked Episode 500.

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Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s News Editor.

We celebrate the 500th episode of IGN’s long-running Xbox podcast in the best way we can think of: by hanging out with the Head of Xbox himself, Phil Spencer, who has been at Xbox since Day One. We talk to Phil about the past, present, and future of Xbox as the brand turns 20 this year. Join us!

Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our new YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 download of this week’s episode. For more awesome content, check out the latest episode of IGN Unfiltered, featuring an interview with The Elder Scrolls Online boss Matt Firor about his RPG roots, the future of the popular MMORPG, and what else the studio is working on as part of the Xbox Studios family:

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Oh, and you can be featured on Unlocked by tweeting us a video Loot Box question! Tweet your question and tag Ryan at @DMC_Ryan!

For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review.

The Ocean’s series of heist movies could continue. Don Cheadle, who plays Basher in the Steven Soderbergh movies, said in an interview that Soderbergh himself floated the idea of making another entry in the series.

He told Entertainment Weekly that Ocean’s 14, or whatever a sequel might be called, was discussed before star Bernie Mac passed away in 2008. After that, they decided against it. But now, Cheadle said Soderbergh has an idea for how to get the gang back together.

“We were talking about it, and then Bernie passed, and very quickly we were like, ‘No, we don’t want to do it,'” Cheadle said. “But I just did a movie with Steven [No Sudden Move] and he said, ‘I think there may be a way to do it again. I’m thinking about it.’ And it didn’t go much further than that. But I don’t know; I don’t know who all would be in it. I imagine the main group of us would be in. It would be interesting to see.”

Carl Reiner, who played Saul in the Ocean’s films, passed away in 2020.

The rest of the main cast from all three Ocean’s movies includes a long list of big names such as George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Elliot Gould, and Shaobo Qin. One potential issue with another Ocean’s movie could be lining up their schedules and the budget to pay the actors. But anything is possible.

A fourth movie, Ocean’s 8, was released in 2018. It featured Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, and Rihanna as thieves pulling a job at the Met Gala. Soderbegh produced that movie, which was directed by Gary Ross.

Ocean’s 11 was the most successful entry in the series at the box office, bringing in more than $450 million. Ocean’s 12 ($362 million), Ocean’s 13 ($311 million), and Ocean’s 8 ($297 million) followed in terms of commercial performance. Although each entry was less successful than the last, together the films represent a juggernaut with more than $1.4 billion in total.

Torn Banner Studios has made a splash with Chivalry 2, its latest medieval combat title. However, anyone that’s played the game since it launched on June 8 knows that it has some problems. Thankfully, a majority of those issues are being fixed in the game’s upcoming 2.0.1 patch, including party and performance issues.

It’s always more fun to charge into battle with friends, but doing that in Chivalry 2 has been a challenge. Simply getting your friends into one party has been difficult, with some connection issues only being solved by restarting your console or PC. With the 2.0.1 patch, those issues should be a thing of the past, with players appearing online correctly and visual indicators being added to show that a player cannot be invited.

Chivalry 2’s performance will also be improved somewhat with the 2.0.1 patch, although mostly on Xbox Series S consoles. Once the patch is in place, the lightweight Xbox console will be able to run Chivalry 2 at 60fps, as intended. Some other issues related to player corpses and the Lionspire banner stag will also be addressed.

Torn Banner Studios has not announced a release date for Chivalry 2’s 2.0.1 patch, or how large it will be. You can find a list of changes coming in the patch down below.

Chivalry Version 2.0.1 Patch Notes

Parties

• PC – Fixed an issue with online presence not updating properly which prevented players from joining and getting into games as a party. For example, if a player is invited to join a party but is already in one, you will receive a message stating ‘ is already in a party. We expect more improvements in the next update as well.
• Fixed an issue where parties dropped out after a match ended and were unintentionally sent back to the main menu
• Added a visual indicator that someone in a party cannot be invited to another party
• PC – If you are in a match and accept a party invite, you will now be sent to the main menu to join the party
• Fixed an issue where a party member was not brought into the game with the game leader when using the server browser
• Accepting a party invite while in-game will no longer cover the disconnects prompt with the controls screen
• The queue timer will no longer continue to countdown if ownership is transferred from the party leader after starting a matchmaking session
• The party member icon will no longer disappear from the scoreboard after being in a party while loading another session from a prior one
• Set party voice playback to use same device output as the game audio
• Party members will now see a voice indication in the UI for themselves and other party members when speaking

Performance

• The Xbox Series S will now play at the intended 60 frames per second!
• Fixed a performance issue where player corpses would negatively impact performance.
• Improved overall performance during the Lionspire banner stage
• Fixed some movement correction that happened while jumping

Combat/Weapons

• Reduced players’ ability to significantly backwards drag before a swing
• Fixed an issue where players visually sprinted sideways too much in third-person.
• Active riposte and counter durations now continue for remaining duration if attack is feinted/transitions to heavy attack
• Fixed attacking queuing issues, so players will now be able to more successfully initiate a follow up parry, attack, or dash
• Kick/Jab/Special cooldown is now refreshed when entering Interrupting states
• Fixed server movement corrections on dodging and jumping (caused visual jittering to occur for players)
• Bandage kits no longer deal damage to teammates. Friendly archers are better at this already!
• Fixed an issue where player could get stuck with fists and unable to attack after climbing ladder
• Fixed an issue where initiating a combat action immediately after doing a VO line did not work.
• Fixed a bug with the Greatsword parry where player collision would not match their position when their parry was broken
• Temporarily disabled 1 handed spear to rework animation sets and make it more readable
• Added missing impact sounds and impact sparks
• Added a cooldown when using a Kick into an attack
• Fixed an issue where picking up a damaged constructible would cause it to be invulnerable next time it is placed

Animation

• Visually fixed the players feet not moving during a jump and when landing a jump
• Fixed sprint turn animation not being in sync between clients in third-person
• Fixed animation popping in 1P/3P when canceling attack into another attack
• Fixed an animation break that occurred when attacking right after Parry recovery
• Removed sliding that occurred when attacking while strafing forward in third-person
• Fixed legs being stuck in idle while moving around and fighting
• Fixed animation freezes after getting hit during a heavy slash feint to jab with a shield
• Fixed server physics for interrupts not playing animations
• Fixed animation stutters with combo to (alt) feint

Crashes/Disconnects

• Fixed an Xbox crash that occurred when resuming from a suspended state (while on the Store menu), and when attempting to use save data from an Xbox One X console on an Xbox Series S console
• Fixed a PS4/PS5 crash that occurred when loading into the tutorial
• Fixed a crash that could occur when dismounting a ladder
• Fixed a crash during post-game screen transition
• Fixed issue where Crossbowman could get disconnected from server during regular gameplay

Customization

• Removed various exploits used to equip locked items
• Fixed hair not adjusting to the characters head sizes
• Fixed white/grey hair color not being able to be equipped.
• Fixed an issue where female heads would reset to male head

Maps

• Added more tickets to the map Fighting Pit.
• Fixed visual issue with large doors in Fighting Pit not visually opening
• Removed center spawns in FFA Tournament Grounds for balancing purposes
• Fixed an issue where players sometimes missed the initial spawn at the start of a match

UI

• Fixed server browser max player counts not displaying correctly
• Fixed issue where loadout screen weapon info doesn’t update on class change
• Fixed missing voice UI to indicate a party member was talking (speaking icon)
• Fixed various flow issues surrounding parties (maintaining party status after a match ends, etc)
• Fixed various missing localizations

Audio

• Thrown weapon impacts are now using the proper sound sets.
• Commander battlecries have been made LOUDER
• Party voice playback now uses same device output as the game audio
• Various audio sound effect mix refinements

Other Changes

• Improved matchmaking for PlayStation Users receiving “matchmaking failed” messages
• Fixed an issue where teams sometimes started overly imbalanced after a map travel. The Order will have to find some new way to come out on top.
• Made tweaks to class, global, and weapon xp requirements
• Updated Crown prices across regions

Developer DICE and publisher Electronic Arts have announced a new Microsoft partnership to make Xbox the official console of Battlefield 2042. This doesn’t mean it’s exclusive to Xbox, however.

To be specific, the Xbox Series S and Series X are the “official consoles of Battlefield 2042,” according to a press release. All three said this was done to “ensure that the next entry in the Battlefield franchise is the best one yet.” It’s unclear exactly how DICE and EA will take advantage of Xbox Series X|S hardware or what this means for Battlefield 2042 players on other platforms.

DICE and EA announced four other partnerships in preparation for Battlefield 2042’s October release: Nvidia (for the “ultimate PC experience”), Logitech (to “ensure players have Logitech integration”), Polaris (to “bring players the opportunity to operate authentic Polaris vehicles in Battlefield 2042”), and WD_BLACK (to ensure “gamers have the best possible gaming experience”).

All five partnerships have been seemingly inked to bolster Battlefield 2042’s gaming performance across both PC and Xbox consoles. Neither DICE nor EA have outlined if these deals will impact the game on PlayStation consoles, though Battlefield 2042 is launching on PS4 and PS5 this October.

We’ll see more of Battlefield 2042 during EA Play Live, including a look at a brand-new game mode, on July 22 . Pro wrestler and G4 TV presenter Austin “Xavier Woods” Watson will host the event.

Battlefield 2042 is the latest entry in the long-running military shooter franchise. This time around, the focus is on larger-scale battles; Battlefield 2042 features a 128 players per match on current-get consoles and PC, though servers will be populated with bots if spots can’t be filled by real players.

Battlefield 2042 launches on October 22 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Hit up our Battlefield 2042 preorder guide to learn about the bonuses and editions available before release day.

Dark Souls: Nightfall, the upcoming ambitious mega-mod authored by a group of Souls modding luminaries, will release December 21. Described as a fan-made sequel to the original game, Dark Souls: Nightfall will be a mod for Dark Souls 1 that will feature a new world map and an entirely new story.

That group of modders includes Meowmaritus, who authored several Souls combat mods, and Grimrukh, the mind behind the popular Daughters of Ash mod. In the teaser trailer announcing the release date, we can see several big changes, including a large hole in what appears to be outside of the Northern Undead Asylum, as well as a massive cathedral in what looks like a changed Ash Lake.

Thanks to previous footage released by the modders, we know that that large hole leads to the Kiln of the First Flame, the final location in the original Dark Souls. According to pre-release materials, Nightfall will follow the alternate ending of the original Dark Souls, where the player character decides not to link the flame, thus leading into the age of dark. This is supposedly the age of man, but we’ll see how that plays out in Nightfall.

Nightfall’s planned release date of December 21 is just one month before January 21, the release date of Elden Ring, From Software’s highly-anticipated next game. As that game’s most recent trailer showed, while it might not have Dark Souls in the name, it certainly has a lot in common the franchise that made the developer into a household name. Even collaborator George RR Martin erroneously referred to the game as a sequel to Dark Souls in a recent interview.

After long delays thanks to an unprecedented viral pandemic, Marvel Studios’ latest movie, Black Widow, is finally here–well, at least the reviews are. The movie will hit theaters on July 9, and it will also arrive to Disney+ that day under Premier Access for an additional $30. Now that critics are talking about the movie, here’s what they had to say.

Over at GameSpot’s sister-site, Metacritic, Black Widow has scored a 69 so far, out of 28 reviews, one of which was negative, 6 of which were mixed, and 21 of which were positive. Over at Rotten Tomatoes, Black Widow sits at 86% fresh currently. This is still over a week from theatrical release for the movie, so these scores will likely change.

Below, you will find a selection of some of the many reviews for Black Widow, and you can check out some early social reactions as well. For more from Marvel, you can check out Disney+’s Loki, which airs on Wednesdays. Recently, the series revealed that Loki is bisexual and where TVA agents really come from. Additionally, a new trailer for the upcoming Shang-Chi movie got a new trailer, which has a giant dragon in it.

Black Widow

• Directed by: Cate Shortland
• Written by: Jac Schaeffer, Ned Benson, and Eric Pearson
• Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz, and David Harbour
• Release date: July 9 (US theatrical and Disney+ Premier Access)

GameSpot – 6/10

“Fans hungry for any MCU entry at all will find plenty to chew on in Black Widow, but ultimately the movie is unsatisfying. That may be partially down to real-world issues that are outside of anyone’s control, like the pandemic pushing release dates around. But despite strong performances from the leads and the addition of a couple of welcome new characters who may spice up the MCU’s future, this Natasha side story has plenty of inherent problems that drag it down regardless of any external factors.” -Michael Rougeau [Full review]

Deadline

“Johansson is again a great presence in the role, showing expert action and acting chops throughout, while Pugh is clearly ready to lead her own franchise after this MCU debut.” -Pete Hammond [Full review]

The Hollywood Reporter

“On the craftsmanship side, Black Widow is top-notch, with muscular camerawork from Gabriel Beristain and a wonderful score by Lorne Balfe that ranges from gentle piano to high-intensity suspense and almost into the operatic as it incorporates stormy choral elements. The editing of the fight scenes is perhaps a touch too unrelentingly fast, often blurring the choreography, but the physical side never feels overwhelmed by CG enhancement.” -David Rooney [Full review]

IGN

“Marvel’s long-awaited Black Widow film shakes up the classic superhero movie form. Styled like an espionage thriller, the film digs into Natasha Romanoff’s mysterious past as a trained assassin–opening up about her ‘family’ and introducing an inventive villain, Taskmaster. But while the film is plied with eye-catching action sequences, it struggles to strike a balance between action and family drama, and reinforces some of Marvel’s tired tropes of women superheroes. It ultimately captures Natasha as a formidable fighter with unshakeable morals, making her inadequate Endgame send-off all the more bittersweet.” -Nicole Clark [Full review]

ComicBook – 4.5/5

“Black Widow is well-paced and filled with exciting action sequences, led by director Cate Shortland. Making the movie a prequel to the last two Avengers films lowered the stakes by a large margin, but sometimes a fun little side quest is a preferable treat. The balance of action and comedy is an enjoyable return to Marvel’s simpler days and while the movie isn’t the franchise’s all-time best, it has some of Marvel’s best character dynamics to date. Black Widow never quite matches up to the perfection of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but the film still marks the franchise’s strongest action-packed spy thriller since the Cap sequel was released back in 2014.” -Jamie Jirak [Full review]

Roger Ebert – 3/4

“As with a lot of the MCU, the third act here gets a little cluttered and repetitive but then the film recovers with a remarkable final action sequence that sends characters and debris hurtling through the sky (an MCU staple but Shortland’s choreography makes it feel urgent again). It’s ultimately a film that works on its own terms, a long-delayed enriching of the story of a beloved character that will make her ultimate sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame feel even more powerful in hindsight.” -Brian Tallerico [Full review]

Consequence – B-

“Black Widow is actually aided by its status as a posthumous ode to a dead character in the Marvel franchise. The audience already knows Nat’s fate, which means Shortland’s action adventure can turn into a kind of tragedy: We get to see how, before she died, she got to reconcile with both of her respective families. It’s absolutely mid-tier Marvel, alternatively harmed and aided by its late position in the slate. But as a reintroduction to the cinematic universe after a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s definitely worth a look.” -Clint Worthington [Full review]