Marvel has a history of releasing its MCU offerings on Disney Plus at varying times, and The Marvels will be no exception.
Once upon a time (think: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) Marvel used to drop its MCU movies on Disney Plus a mere month and a half after premiering in theaters. It’s hard to imagine that happening now, in the wake of recent additions like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, both of which took twice as long as the aforementioned Doctor Strange 2 to reach the platform.
Of the 10 MCU movies from the Multiverse Saga, seven of them have had different release streaming schedules, meaning some dropped after 47 days, some after 62 days, and others after 89 days. Only in recent memory has the studio begun to follow a strict timeline. And that timeline is being followed by The Marvels, which means the Brie Larson sequel is hitting streaming just in time for Valentine’s Day.
The Marvels Disney Plus release date, confirmed
It has been confirmed that The Marvels will drop on Disney Plus on Wednesday, Feb. 7. Marvel fans good at math could have predicted this as this date is a full 89 days after the movie’s theatrical premiere on Nov. 10, and the last two Phase Five films lead us to believe 89 days is the new norm.
The first half of Phase Four was sporadic in terms of its theatrical-to-streaming release dates. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was a turning point, however, as it became the first MCU movie to take over 80 days to reach the platform (82 days, to be exact). Quantumania, the first Phase Five movie, continued that trend, taking a full 89 days post-theatrical release.
The fact that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 also took 89 days and now The Marvels is following the same pattern causes one to assume that Marvel has completely forgone the days of yore when it used to drop MCU movies 45 days after their theatrical release. This was a practice Disney pioneered in the wake of COVID-19, but one the studio and others are slowly abandoning.
With The Marvels crashing and burning at the box office to the extent that it has, it’ll be interesting to see if Nia DaCosta’s MCU debut can turn out to be a major streaming success for Disney. The odds are good that its reputation will continue to improve at least, following the film’s digital release seeing the fandom belatedly stand up in its corner and sing its praises.
Make the most of The Marvels‘ Disney Plus arrival as this will be the last MCU movie to make its way to streaming for a long while yet. There’s only one new Marvel Studios film releasing in 2024, remember, and that’s Deadpool 3, coming in July.