Here's Why Disney+ Won't Have All Marvel Movies at Launch

Disney unleashed a massive onslaught of tweets Monday morning, officially revealing the movies and series that will be available on Disney+ when it launches next month. The barrage of tweets included just six films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — Iron Man, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the previously-announced Captain Marvel. That means there's still 17 movies from Marvel Studios that won't be on the new direct-to-consumer service — at least immediately, that is.

With Disney throwing all sorts of cash into its latest focus, why wouldn't it put every film in its largest franchise on the new streaming platform? It essentially comes down to rights issues...and being patient. First and foremost, there is still a group of movies that are currently available on Netflix, meaning that contract has to lapse before they're available to switch platforms. The MCU flicks currently on Netflix include Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, and Avengers: Infinity War.

After that, things do admittedly do start to get fuzzy. Despite Disney purchasing Marvel prior to 2010, Paramount continued to handle distribution of all Marvel Studios movies through Joss Whedon's The Avengers, meaning rights for films like Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Thor could take a moment to sort out. Then, of course, there's The Incredible Hulk, a movie that has it's distribution rights owned by Universal, another roadblock for Disney and Marvel Studios to get around.

Probably the most obvious explanations of the bunch would be the rights issues surrounding Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home, two movies owned by Sony. To date, it's still unclear when — or even if — those two movies will be added to the service. As for everything else, it's likely just a matter of time before the movies hit Disney+. Though it's unclear if Disney+ is planning a monthly rollout of films like Netflix and Hulu, we already do know Avengers: Endgame will be added to the service in the month following its launch.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022. Marvel Studios Disney+ series without release dates include Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk.

What's the first Marvel property you plan on watching on Disney+? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things MCU!