If you’re a fan of the various Netflix-based Marvel series such as Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher and The Defenders – the latter having brought together many of those characters – then you may have already read earlier this month that those shows were set to leave the streaming platform.
That much became clear when viewers noticed messages attached to the above shows when they watched them on the aforementioned service, stating that they would cease to be available on Netflix on March 1. As for where they would head instead, the fact that the rights to the characters involved have started reverting to Disney lately seemed to point to those shows being moved to the Disney+ streaming library.
And sure enough, Disney+ has now confirmed this will be the case, according to a Games Radar report – although only so far for viewers in Canada, where all the series will become available to watch on the platform from Wednesday, March 16.
As for when those shows might be making their way to Disney+ in other territories, it certainly interested us to read a recent report by Marvel news website The Direct, which noted that the official release listing for Disney+ Spain for March didn’t actually show the so-far-Netflix-based Marvel offerings. This would seem to suggest that the shows will not become accessible on Disney+ in every region during the month of March.
As The Direct points out in its article, a combination of rights issues and variations in content distribution across different territories might explain why the Marvel Netflix shows won’t all hit Disney+ at the same time in every part of the world. But the fact that they at least seem to be confirmed for Disney+ Canada surely indicates that they will likely become available in other countries sooner or later – perhaps in April or later in 2022.
If you are a Marvel fan in the United States, then, it might seem that you have more reason than ever to sign up to Disney+ if you haven’t done so already.
We would suggest, though, that you hold off for now until official confirmation comes through. After all, as Henry T. Casey has pointed out for Tom’s Guide, the existing Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) shows on Disney+, such as WandaVision and the upcoming Moon Knight, all have the same TV-14 age rating. But Netflix’s Marvel shows are all TV-MA.
Whereas Disney+ in Canada and other regions has the Star Channel for content that doesn’t fit the traditional ‘family-friendly’ Disney image, that isn’t the case in the US. There is, though, Hulu, which is Disney’s other streaming platform often showing more mature content. American Marvel fans who just can’t wait for an announcement may therefore be best advised to opt for the Disney+ bundle with Hulu and ESPN+, to help ensure all the potential bases are covered.