When news first broke that Disney was pulling all of their films from Netflix and launching their own streaming service in 2019, we knew that wouldn't be the end of it. I mean, did you think Marvel would be spared? That you'd still see Daredevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Punisher, and Jessica Jones together in the same place? Well, you will...it just won't be on Netflix.
In a new piece by the Wall Street Journal, they say what we already guessed, that Disney is likely to move their Marvel TV properties from Netflix to their upcoming streaming service. From there any new shows would be produced exclusively for Disney's network. Of course. This is all part and parcel of their recent attempts to acquire 20th Century Fox, which would greatly expand Disney's television powerbase in an effort to compete directly with Netflix, Amazon, and others with growing serialized content.
A big chunk of the content Disney would like to make use of is, naturally, the X-Men, which already has a pair of successful TV shows in Legion and The Gifted. Throw in the popular big screen movies, and Disney would have a lot to play around with...
"After an acquisition, Disney would consolidate its control of all its Marvel characters save for Spider-Man, still at Sony Pictures Entertainment, and could have them appear together in films and TV series."
For consumers what does this mean? I guess it's basically trading one subscription service for another, or adding a new one to your list of them. But it's just another sign that Disney holds all of the cards here. They have the brands that everyone wants to see, and they know it.
