Disney released some details about their OTT service finally. And according to Deadline, the company will be working very hard to keep the content on the service family friendly. The content on the Disney branded service will not surpass R ratings. We can probably also assume that means no TV-MA either.
Netflix Wins
This is good news for fans of the Marvel series on Netflix, which are noticeably darker than the films that take place in the same universe. The word on the street last year was that Netflix would be losing the Marvel series to Disney’s service but maybe the mouse company decided it was better to leave them on the top streaming service in the world. While movies may be leaving the service it is the original content that makes Netflix stand out.
Impact of Hulu
This is also a good development for Hulu subscribers. since the family-friendly offering will not be streaming R rated material this means that Hulu will be able to house a massive library of films if Disney chooses to distribute them through streaming. I would expect that once the merger that will give Disney 60% control of Hulu is final that the company would want to step up its movie offerings on Hulu. Hulu is also the streaming home to the growing FX slate of the X-Men Universe. This universe is expected to be merged with the Marvel Cinematic universe in the future.
Disney Will Push Original Programming
A star wars TV project is said to be in the works along with a number of original movies. The slate includes a number of remakes of older titles 3 Men and a Baby; Sword and the Stone; that will update them to a new audience. Personally, I would love to see Disney drop their Wonderful World of Disney library on the service so that a new generation could see the made for TV movies that used to air on Saturday nights.
