In the vast majority of cases, episodic and feature-length streaming exclusives don’t play anywhere other than on their platform of choice, for the obvious reason that there’s no need to pay for a monthly subscription if you don’t need to use the service to watch them. However, Disney Plus must be keeping a close eye on its bottom line, because several of its biggest hits are heading to disc.
Of course, the fact the Mouse House’s on-demand division has been attempting to shave billions off the budget as the company CEO tightens belts across every aspect of the multimedia conglomerate’s operations may have necessitated additional avenues to bring in some extra revenue, with three of Disney Plus’ heaviest hitters on course to make their Blue-ray and 4K UHD physical media debuts for the first time ever.
The first season of Loki hits shelves on Sept. 26, followed by WandaVision on Nov. 28, before the first two seasons of The Mandalorian arrive on Dec. 12. As well as making history with actual discs you can hold in your own two hands, they’re all coming with a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray in Steelbook packaging, along with concept art cards and bespoke box art.
Not to say the decision is entirely financially-motivated, but if Disney Plus is happy to write off a $100+ million original six months after it premiered, then you’ve got to imagine that every available cashflow opportunity is on deck, and you can expect that WandaVision, Loki, and The Mandalorian won’t exactly come cheap.