The Disney+ streaming service will have new content from both Marvel Studios and Marvel Television. Featuring a vast catalog of original content from Marvel Studios, Pixar, Lucasfilm, National Geographic, and more, Disney+ is intended to become a strong competitor for the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. It's intended to launch in North America on Nov. 12, and will be priced competitively at $6.99 a month (or $69.99 for an annual subscription).
Disney is making a concerted pitch to get Marvel fans to subscribe to their new service, which will come to contain almost every MCU movie to date. In addition, Marvel Studios is launching a range of 6-10-episode TV shows, featuring actors from the films. Marvel Television, a separate Disney subsidiary, had seemingly been relegated to Hulu, with lower budget and edgier series such as The Offenders and a relaunched Ghost Rider.
It seems that Marvel Television will have a presence on Disney+ after all, and indeed will be producing new content for the streaming service. Marvel Entertainment's SVP of Original Programming and Production, Karim Zreik, recently participated in a panel discussion hosted by Parrot Analytics. He confirmed that Disney+ is a priority for every Disney subsidiary, and briefly discussed the kind of content Marvel Television is making for the streaming service.
"We are providing content for them... It's a different platform. I think Disney+ is, you know, they're a family brand, four-quadrant, so I think that's what we're targeting. I don't think they'd be interested in the edgy stuff."
Zreik was careful not to give away any spoilers, although the little he said suggests that few of Marvel Television's existing shows will fit with Disney's vision for the streaming service. Even Agents of SHIELD, Marvel's flagship TV series, became darker from season 4 when it moved to a later time slot. It sounds as though these will be entirely new properties, although it's possible New Warriors - envisioned as a sort of "docu-comedy" - could finally find a home with Disney+ after it was pulled from Freeform in 2017.
Still, Zreik's comment is the first time there's been official confirmation that Marvel Television will have a presence on Disney+ at all. It means subscribers can expect even more Marvel content than Marvel Studios announced at their Hall H panel at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. It will be interesting to see Marvel Studios and Marvel Television shows sitting side-by-side on the same platform at last. The relationship between the two has seemed increasingly distant since a major corporate restructure back in 2015, which pulled Marvel Studios out of the wider Marvel Entertainment group. This will hopefully force the two to work together a little more, making the MCU seem a bit more cohesive at last.
Source: Parrot Analytics