The fallout from Disney’s earnings call continues.
Amid news that Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi) has been tasked with delivering an all-new Star Wars trilogy, not to mention the live-action series set in that galaxy far, far away, we’ve now received yet more evidence that Marvel‘s street-level heroes (see: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, et. al) may be pulled from Netflix and relocated to Disney’s new streaming platform in 2019.
It’s a subscription service that’s clearly being angled as a director competitor to Netflix – CEO Bob Iger confirmed today that it’ll be priced “substantially below” Netflix’s current $10.99 entry point in two years’ time – so we can’t imagine the Mouse House will want some of its most valuable assets on another platform.
Regardless of whether its current pool of content is shifted, The Wall Street Journal has confirmed that all new Marvel series will be funneled through Disney’s own streaming service, noting that, “while [Disney] currently produces Marvel superhero series such as ‘Daredevil’ for Netflix, new Marvel shows in the future are expected to live on the company’s own streaming service.”
Granted, the quote itself doesn’t explicitly mention the fate of Netflix’s current Marvel lineup, and we imagine it’ll be some time yet before further details emerge. Last we reported, Disney had opened talks to acquire 21st Century Fox’s entertainment divisions – and with them, the license to both X-Men and Fantastic Four – while subsequent reports have unveiled the company’s desire to consolidate all its characters under the one roof.
Details are still few and far between, but here’s confirmation of that megaton from Disney, courtesy of The Wall Street Journal:
Disney creating new "Star Wars" live action series, one based on "Monsters Inc.," "High School Musical" TV series and Marvel series for its streaming service launching in 2019, says Iger
— Ben Fritz (@benfritz) November 9, 2017
There was no mention of specific release dates for either project – ditto for Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy, though it’ll presumably get going in 2020 – but we’ll be keeping you right up to date as this saga unfolds.
Marvel, meanwhile, is currently prepping for The Punisher‘s arrival, having earmarked the Frank Castle solo series for a premiere on November 17th.