Whether you’re discouraged about having yet another streaming service to subscribe to, or you’re looking forward to having all your favorite Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney Animated features in one place, there’s one thing for sure; the House of Mouse is not messing around with putting out a ton of content for its new Disney Plus streaming service, and making that content exclusive.
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, and Disney CEO Bob Iger have been opening up a lot in the past year about the future of Disney Plus, and specifically how it relates to the MCU. Expect to see fan-favorite characters like Loki, Falcon, Bucky Barnes, and even Lady Sif get their own series, while future Marvel Studios pictures go directly to the service. We couldn’t be more excited to see how the “long form” of televised storytelling adds to the richness the MCU has already created. Here’s what we know so far!C
11 CAPTAIN MARVEL WILL BE THE FIRST EXCLUSIVE MARVEL FILM AVAILABLE
Brie Larson has been declared the next “billion dollar” Marvel star, and her new film Captain Marvel is set to smash box office records when it hits theaters on March 8th. It doesn’t even need to make the 400 million dollars domestically that Wonder Woman did to be considered a great success; it has another ace up its sleeve.
Captain Marvel will be the first Marvel Studios film to exclusively premiere on Disney Plus, which means anyone that doesn’t want to subscribe to the service in 2019 will just have to hurry off to the theater to see it.
10 AVENGERS: ENDGAME WILL GO DIRECTLY TO DISNEY PLUS
After Captain Marvel debuts in March, Avengers: Endgame will hit theaters in late April, effectively concluding the incredible conflict between the Avengers and the Mad Titan Thanos that had been building to its climactic final showdown for years.
Avengers: Endgame will see the end of many of the story arcs for favorite Marvel characters while launching opportunities for stories including several new heroes. It will be the next Marvel Studios title to exclusively be distributed through Disney Plus, bypassing the big trio of streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime) completely.
9 LOKI GETS HIS OWN LIMITED SERIES
One of the most anticipated series being talked about in connection to Disney Plus is the as yet untitled Loki spin-off. It will star fan favorite Tom Hiddleston in the role of the prankster god of Asgard and half-brother to the God of Thunder and Avenger, Thor.
Given Loki’s fate at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, it’s unclear exactly when the series will take place, and it may end up being a prequel. What is known, is that it will be a limited series of 6-8 episodes and a chance for fans who thought Loki didn’t have enough screen time to watch him cause even more chaos.
8 SCARLET WITCH AND VISION GET THEIR OWN LIMITED SERIES
Along with the hype surrounding the Loki series, there’s been considerable interest in the Scarlet Witch and Vision series rumored to also be in development. Fans of both characters liked watching their connection grow in the Avengers movies, but felt that they didn’t get nearly enough screen time.
There’s no information on when the series will be set, or if it will feature familiar characters from their past (Magneto), but we do know that both Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany will return to reprise their roles. It will also be a mini-series, of 6-8 episodes.
7 THE WINTER SOLDIER AND FALCON GET THEIR OWN SHOW
Much praise has been heaped on Falcon and Bucky Barnes (the Winter Soldier) for being second-tier Marvel characters that managed to leave a big impression. It also helps that Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan have a fun camaraderie both on and off the silver screen.
We have no release date, but we do know that it will be written by Malcolm Spellman, and consist of 6-8 episodes. Considering both Falcon and Bucky turned to dust at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, it’s unclear when it will take place, but based on interviews with both Stan and Mackie, they’re interested in it having a “buddy cop” vibe.
6 LADY SIF GETS HER OWN SERIES
Lady Sif, Marvel’s favorite shield-maiden and battle buddy of Thor’s, had been conspicuously absent from Marvel films following Thor: The Dark World. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige cited scheduling conflicts as to why Jaimie Alexander didn’t appear in Thor: Ragnarok, but she’s apparently ready and willing to return as Lady Sif for Disney Plus.
Aside from Kevin Feige producing the series, no writers have been named, and it’s unclear in what time period it will take place. If it takes place during Thor: Ragnarok, perhaps it will create an intriguing in-universe reason why Lady Sif wasn’t present, or what her fate was in Avengers: Infinity War.
5 IT WILL HAVE EVERY PREVIOUS MARVEL STUDIOS RELEASE AVAILABLE
It probably comes as no surprise, but Disney will be pulling its collective Marvel Studios releases from their homes on other streaming services to be offered exclusively on Disney Plus. While some properties like Star Wars live-action films may live on due to licensing agreements for the next few years, Marvel television shows and films will only be found on Disney Plus.
This accounts for why fan-favorite Marvel series like Daredevil, Luke Cage, and to a lesser extent Iron Fist were unceremoniously canceled on Netflix. The contract for their collective licenses ran out with Netflix, and it didn’t want to produce what Disney would solely profit from.
4 THERE PROBABLY WON’T BE A DEADPOOL SERIES
In one of the largest mergers in recent times, Disney acquired Twentieth Century Fox and with it, a lot of hot intellectual properties. Aliens, Predator, and the X-Men characters are now all fair game for Disney Plus to make into series, as well as one very special superhero: Deadpool.
While it’s entirely possible Disney will choose to launch a Deadpool series, they have to be careful with the material they work with. Bob Iger has been firm that there won’t be anything R-Rated on the streaming service, which basically takes all the fun out of anything Deadpool related.
3 THERE WILL BE A POSSIBLE X-MEN SERIES
Until recently, Marvel Studios had to tread lightly with the entire X-Men catalog, especially since it was owned by Twentieth Century Fox. Use of the word “mutant” wasn’t happening, so strategic nomenclature was put in place (Scarlet Witch isn’t a mutant, she’s an “Inhuman”).
Now that Disney has acquired Fox, however, things may change for the better. The X-Men may get to be involved with the main plots of the big Marvel Studio films, instead of appearing isolated from the monumental goings-on in the rest of the MCU like they have been.
2 DAREDEVIL, LUKE CAGE, AND IRON FIST PROBABLY WON’T RETURN
Fans were surprised when popular Marvel shows like Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist were canceled abruptly and without any quantifiable reason. They then came to find out that Disney itself was giving up $300 million in annual licensing fees to house its IP’s on Netflix by moving them over to Disney Plus.
With that being said, don’t expect your favorite Marvel shows to come back right away; Bob Iger, Disney CEO has stated that the content for the streaming service will be very family friendly, and their more mature themes may not make the cut.
1 IT WILL FOCUS ON SECONDARY CHARACTERS
One of the biggest complaints from Marvel fans is that many of the characters they like in the MCU don’t get enough screen time, with their backstories often abbreviated or entirely written out in favor of propping up more important characters. These are characters that would never even be considered for their own stand-alone film, despite having large followings among fans of their comic books.
Disney+ has heard these complaints and plans to devote the majority of its Marvel films and television series produced exclusively for the service to these second-tier characters. It’s time for Iron Man and Captain America to play second fiddle for once.
