Netflix might become the new home for a bunch of Disney Plus shows and movies, according to Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Per Deadline, Iger revealed that Disney was "in discussion" with Netflix about licensing more Disney Plus titles to one of its biggest streaming rivals. However, Iger confirmed Disney wouldn't entertain Netflix's attempts to add what he called Disney's "core brands" to its overstuffed library.
Iger's admission comes after Netflix struck a similar deal with Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to add numerous Max movies and TV shows to its back catalog, albeit in the US. The licensing agreement, which was ratified in July, allowed some of the best Max shows, including Band of Brothers, Six Feet Under, and Insecure, to join Netflix's suite of content. Multiple DC Extended Universe (DCEU) movies, including Zack Snyder's Justice League and Matt Reeves' The Batman, will join Netflix's film library in early December, too.
According to a July 2023 Forbes report, WBD CEO David Zaslav revealed the decision to allow Netflix to add various WBD projects to its back catalog was a monetary one. This strategy, Zaslav claimed, would cut costs at WBD and enable it to streamline Max's own library.
With Disney embarking on its own cost-cutting spree in 2023, its investors were curious if the entertainment behemoth would follow WBD's lead. Indeed, one interested party put such a question to Iger during Disney's Q4 2023 earnings call, who confirmed The Walt Disney Company and Netflix had held talks about striking a similar deal. However, Iger was at pains to stress that the studio's biggest brands – Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar – wouldn't migrate to Netflix as, well, Disney would be silly to sign off on such a proposal.
"We’ve actually been licensing content to Netflix and are going to continue to," Iger said. "We’re actually in discussion with them now about some opportunities, but I wouldn’t expect that we will license our core brands to them. Those are obviously competitive advantages for us and differentiators. Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars for instance, they are all doing very, very well on our platform and I don’t see why just to basically chase bucks we should do that when they are really really important building blocks to the current and future of our streaming business."
A streaming no-go
Disney's steadfast refusal to let Netflix beam anything Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar-related is the least surprising news we've heard in a while.
Disney Plus has just crossed the 150 million subscriber mark globally and, in the US, Hulu's user base rose by 200,000 in the three-month period running July to October (per Disney's Q4 2023 earnings report). Allowing some of the best Disney Plus movies and best Disney Plus shows to be watchable on Netflix, then, clearly wouldn't be in Disney's best interests.
How would Disney benefit from letting, say, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 or The Mandalorian join Netflix's library? It might make some much-needed cash, sure, but it would lose subscribers when people realize they can stream the best content around on a single platform that isn't Disney's. Iger said Disney won't "chase bucks" in its aim to cut costs. While it would make a pretty penny from allowing Netflix to become home to some Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) TV shows and films, the inevitable downside is not worth it.
Disappointed as Netflix and its fanbase will be at that revelation, there's still lots of terrific content to view on the world's best streaming service. Our guides on the best Netflix shows and best Netflix movies are packed with top-tier recommendations, so head on over now to see what's worth watching today.
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