A month after revealing that it would be launching its own streaming service in 2019, Disney announced Thursday that Marvel and Star Wars films would be among those exclusively available on the service when it launches.
Disney CEO Bob Iger made the announcement at a conference in Los Angeles, bringing an end to speculation on whether the Marvel and Star Wars franchises would be included under the umbrella of content pulled off Netflix for Disney’s new streaming app.
“I have described a very rich treasure trove of content for this app,” Iger said, according to CNBC. “We’re going to launch big, and we’re going to launch hot.”
The change your Netflix selection won’t be immediate. The films currently on Netflix will remain there until late 2019, and Disney will continue to make new films available on Netflix until the end of 2018. The removal will also include Disney and Pixar films.
Iger also revealed that Disney’s streaming service will have a television library of shows, original Disney series, and exclusive Disney movies.
The eventual loss of the Marvel and Star Wars films to Netflix will be a pinch to fans, but it’s unclear if Disney’s collection of movies and TV shows will be enough to entice people to sign up for the service when it launches. Streaming is already becoming an oversaturated field, so it might take even more to convince some people that it’s worth signing up for yet another streaming service.
H/T Ars Technica