The announcement that Disney is launching its own streaming service sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry, as that new venture came with the caveat that Disney was pulling its content from Netflix in 2019. What was uncertain, was whether that mandate included content from Disney’s Marvel and Lucasfilm brands – but now we have the official answer on that front.
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Deadline reports that Disney has decided to pull both Marvel and Star Wars content from Netflix in 2019, as was revealed by Disney CEO Bob Iger in a recent investor meeting.
According Iger, the plan for Disney’s streaming service is “We’re going to launch big, and we’re going to launch hot.” He added that the app, “will have the entire output of the studio — animation, live action and Disney including Pixar, Star Wars and all of the Marvel films.“
That library includes exclusively offering the full lineup of Disney properties on the service (500 films and 7,000 TV episodes), in addition to four or five original TV series and three or four original movies. An expansive lineup of short form content is also expected, and the digital service will be used as the exclusive distribution platform for lower-budgeted films (no more risky theatrical premieres).
While Disney’s service sounds impressive, it does leave us with one big question:
What Does This Mean for Netflix?
How Disney’s launch will impact other major streaming services is a big, looming question – especially for Netflx. Netflix has clearly benefited from having big Marvel and Star Wars movies offered on the service, but since the companies ratings and returns are largely unknown to the public, we have no real measurement for just how much Marvel and Star Wars features pull in, in terms of viewers, and what that loss will mean for Netflix’s bottom line.
This question gets even more expansive when you factor in all the Disney movies and TV content that is offered through the services. Families with children aged toddler to teen would arguably have much more incentive to pay for a Disney streaming service that could offer animated fare and TV content for kids, and fantastical superhero and sci-fi content for teens, than the more adult offerings of Netflix. Indeed: the “Kids” section of Netflix’s service is probably in the biggest danger from this new Disney venture.
In any event, for adult viewers this will likely turn out to be a headache, as it could foster a double-dip dilemma. Most of the kid-friendly content or biggest movie releases will now be on one service; a lot of the adult TV, movie, and popular original content will still be on Netflix.
That new division of service options will then make the case for “extras” like Amazon and Hulu even harder to justify. In short: things are about to get real interesting in 2019.
For now, you can still catch all your Marvel and Stars Wars movies on Netflix. The Marvel Cinematic Universe continues with Thor: Ragnarok on November 3rd; the Star Wars saga continues with The Last Jedi on December 15, 2017. Find out more about each film in our database pages below!
