The murky world of streaming rights and distribution contracts got that little bit murkier yesterday when it was announced that Sony had struck a licensing agreement with Disney, allowing many of the former’s biggest titles to eventually stream on the Mouse House’s platform, most notably Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies, which came hot on the heels of Sony reaching a deal with Netflix that would give the latter the first-run option on the studio’s upcoming slate of coming book adaptations including Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
It’ll be a slow-moving process, though, with the Sony titles expected to arrive on Netflix about nine months after they wrap up their theatrical runs, before shifting over to Disney Plus an unspecified amount of time after that. It isn’t just about Marvel, though, with the likes of the Jumanji and Hotel Transylvania franchises also included in the deal, as Hulu’s set to start streaming a significant number of films from the Sony back catalogue beginning in June.
That also means that it won’t only be the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spidey blockbusters making their way to Disney Plus, but also Sam Raimi’s original trilogy, Marc Webb’s pair of The Amazing Spider-Man efforts and the Into the Spider-Verse films as well. Presumably, they’ll be shuffled into the Marvel Legacy collection alongside Fox’s X-Men and Fantastic Four pics, continuing to reinforce the superhero content library.
It’s exciting news for Spider-Man fans that’s for sure, but for subscribers in the United States at least, it still won’t complete the MCU collection. The Incredible Hulk is available to stream on Disney Plus for international customers, but as of yet, it hasn’t been added to the domestic lineup, meaning that the world’s biggest franchise won’t dwell under one roof for a long time yet.
Published: Apr 22, 2021 07:40 am