A few days ago saw Disney announce that it will be launching its own streaming service and ending its deal with Netflix.
What wasn’t clear was the future regarding Disney’s Marvel deal with Netflix, which sees Defenders, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage air on the streaming network in addition to the MCU movies.
Disney CEO Bob Iger did say it’s all currently up in the air regarding Marvel at Netflix, and Iger even offered it’s possible Disney could launch their own streaming service solely for Marvel (and one for Star Wars).
Now Reuters is reporting that Disney and Netflix are currently in talks to keep the Marvel and Star Wars films (and assuming Marvel TV shows) at Netflix as it’s said discussions are taking place to continue the deal that ends in 2019.
The report states Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos has confirmed talks are underway with Disney about retaining rights to stream Marvel and Lucasfilm releases after 2019.
Sarandos did note that studios moving to their own streaming services was expected (which is probably why Netflix has been concentrating on original content and doing such a successful job with it).
Marvel movies currently affected by Disney dropping Netflix include The Avengers 3, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers 4, Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and whatever MCU Phase 4 movies come after.
Curiously, I haven’t read about Disney mentioning the fate of their Marvel Netflix TV shows, which may be a good sign that the move will only affect the films, though Disney’s official announcement did say they will be creating their own content as well.
I think it’s only a matter of time before Disney pulls the plug from Netflix completely. There’s just too much money left on the table not to have their own streaming service for their Disney products including Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars.
