The billion-dollar giant has finally given everyone a sneak-peek of their long-awaited competitor to Netflix, Prime Video and Hulu at Disney’s Investor Day event. The new service, Disney+, is set to feature the company’s various franchises like Pixar and Marvel.
It will also include Star Wars and National Geographic which they now own after completing the takeover of 21st Century Fox’s media assets.
Much like Netflix, the service will recommend shows on the basis of watch histories with options that will include Disney+ Originals, Recommended for You, and Continue Watching. It will allow users to add movies and series to a personalized list and download them for offline viewing.
It was further revealed that new Disney films will be available on the platform immediately after their home releases. This is a major hit to services like iTunes and Prime Video where they were available for rent initially.
Focusing more on specific franchises, all films in the signature collection including The Lion King, Bambi and The Little Mermaid will be available from the first day. All Pixar films will be available within the first year of the service’s launch. This also includes a series of original shorts focusing on characters from Toy Story 4.
Over 5000 hours of original Disney shows, and movies will be available to watch. The original cast will be back for a new Phineas and Ferb movie which will debut on Disney+ and it will also be the home to all 30 seasons of The Simpsons.
Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that the Star Wars saga is set to take a break after December’s big release of Episode IX and focus more on TV projects. He mentioned that the Luke Skywalker story will come to an end after this film and then it goes on a hiatus. The entire saga will be available for streaming from day one.
Marvel Studios on the other hand is set to get a lot more content on Disney+ post the much-awaited release of Avengers: Endgame. Two new series, WandaVision and Falcon & Winter Soldier were announced. The first one will focus on the relationship between Scarlet Witch and Vision while the second one will follow the two Avenger colleagues on various missions.
These two new series join the previous already announced live action series based on Loki and Hawkeye taking the total up to four. All actors including Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan are set to reprise their roles. Marvel boss Kevin Feige confirmed that all series will tie into a post Avengers: Endgame universe.
Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame will also be available to stream from day one. National Geographic will have 250+ hours of content on release including the Oscar winning documentary Free Solo.
This is a huge step for Disney as it prepares itself to jump into the ever-growing world of web entertainment. It already owns a major stake in Hulu and owns a live streaming sports platform in ESPN+. Disney confirmed that it is likely to bundle the three services at a bargain price for the audience. All the information revealed has made it clear that the launch of Disney+ is going to be nothing short of spectacular.
The platform is set for release on 12 November, 2019 for $6.99 a month and $69.99 a year in the USA with a global release to follow.