10 Movies That Were Blatant Apologies

In perhaps the most blatant example of too little, too late in recent cinematic history, Marvel Studios finally opted to unleash a long-desired Black Widow standalone feature on its audience in 2021... a decade or so on from her big-screen debut alongside Tony Stark and co.

Had the adventure depicting Scarlett Johansson's master assassin joining forces with her complicated "family" been unleashed even a few years earlier, around the time it actually fits into the MCU timeline, there's a solid chance the adventure could've made a decent impact and helped add even more weight to the character's eventual death in Avengers: Endgame.

By the time Natasha Romanoff was finally given a bit more attention and moments to be fleshed out as a three-dimensional being, however, fans had already witnessed the character fend off aliens on numerous occasions and emotionally help snap half of life back into existence.

So, the just fine detour that Black Widow takes during the prequel wound up disappointingly feeling like little more than a throwaway apology of a side-quest to revisit in the end, rather than the much-deserved chance to further enhance an already cherished figure it could've been had it actually been released after Civil War.