Disney’s streaming service will exclusively get Marvel and Star Wars movies

Bad news for Netflix: Disney CEO Bob Iger now says that Disney’s forthcoming streaming service, which is set to debut in late 2019, will exclusively get Star Wars and Marvel movies. This is in addition to Pixar and Disney studio films, which were the content focus of the service when it was initially announced.

The addition of Marvel and Star Wars movies coming exclusively to the app (via CNBC) along with Disney’s television library, will make for a very deep well of content for the own-brand subscription streaming offering. This will be very useful in helping to attract subscribers who might be hesitant about putting down yet another recurring financial commitment with the growing selection of over-the-top streaming offerings.

Netflix and Disney had said that discussions would continue around whether Marvel and Lucasfilm movies would continue to be available on Netflix’s platform following the 2019 Disney service launch, and that no decision had been made. Iger confirmed today that they’ve now decided to house those films on its own app.

Disney has also previously suggested that dedicated streaming services around Marvel or Disney universe content might be an option, but now it sounds like all content will be found in one place, which again sounds like the better option in terms of attracting a broad range of subscribers.