Mulan: Could Premier Access Expiration Date Hint at Black Widow Disney+ Offering?

For the better part of two weeks, movie-goers have been able to go onto Disney+ and purchase Disney's live-action remake for Mulan for $29.99. After a handful of delays related to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent theater shutdowns, the Mouse eventually made the decision to release the movie through the service with a premium VOD option. That, of course, was all in addition to releasing it theatrical internationally wherever theaters are open. Through Sunday, it's grossed $37.6 million worldwide.

The Disney+ situation is a pretty plush deal for fans — for $30, you get the digital copy of Mulan so long as you maintain an active subscription to the OTT service. Eventually, the movie will be added to the service free of charge, just like any other feature film released by Walt Disney Studios and its subsidiaries. Before then, however, there will be a period where the movie is not available for purchase, nor will it be available for free — it will only be available to those who've already purchased it.

That deadline — or expiration date, if you will — falls on November 2nd at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time. Coincidentally enough, guess what else is happening in the first week of November? That's right — Marvel Studios currently has Black Widow scheduled for its theatrical release on November 6th.

The question has to be asked — could Mulan's "expiration" on Disney+ be linked to a possible Black Widow VOD offering? In short, probably not, there's little to no correlation between the dates. In fact, the date when Mulan will be temporarily pulled from the service is exactly one month ahead of when it's supposed to hit Disney+ for free.

Even though there's a growing contingent of fans hoping Disney decides to ultimately release the movie at least in a combo part-VOD, part-theatrical release, wherever they may be open. Even then, Disney chief Bob Chapek insists Mulan is a one-off rather than the start of a new business model for the Mouse.

"We are looking at Mulan as a one-off as opposed to saying there's a new business windowing model we are looking at," the executive explained in an investors call earlier this summer.

Black Widow is currently set for release on November 6th.

Do you think Marvel will eventually bump it to VOD or will it remain theaters only? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments below or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!