Netflix is still in active talks with Marvel over potentially retaining streaming rights to Marvel and Star Wars movies after 2019, which is the date Disney has set for when it’ll remove Disney and Pixar movies from the subscription service in favor of its own in-house Disney streaming offering.
We already knew the fate of Disney’s Marvel co-production TV shows, including Daredevil, The Punisher, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and The Defenders was not subject to the new arrangement Disney announced earlier this week. These ongoing talks around feature-length Marvel and Lucasfilm-made movies reveal those could also still have a future at Neftlix.
When the deal was announced earlier this week by Disney CEO Bog Iger, the fate of the Marvel and Star Wars films wasn’t yet fixed. Netflix told Reuters on Friday that “active discussions” are going on right now to retain streaming rights beyond 2019, and it seems possible that this could end up being the result depending on Disney’s goals with franchises housed under the Marvel and Star Wars brands.
While it sounds far from something settled, it could be that Disney’s own streaming service is focused more on entertainment for families and children, while the more mature reach of the Star Wars and Marvel films end up being better suited for a distribution platform with a broader audience. It’s also very possible that Disney’s still evaluating how it would position Marvel and Star Wars dedicated subscription services, something it’s been rumored to have mulled in the past.
Whatever the outcome, Netflix isn’t slacking on its alternative content options: The company continues to invest in and produce plenty of original content, and will only be ramping up those efforts in the near future.