It’s goodbye Incredible Hulk, hello trouble. With the establishment of a Disney’s online streaming service, and the announcement that much of the company’s media would be exclusive, Netflix watchers and stockholders everywhere are right to be worried.
But what exactly does this mean for the online giant that’s been the binge-watcher’s staple in recent years? Well, to the average man or woman, it means the loss of available content, and some big names at that.
Goodbye Simba, See Ya’ Buzz
From childhood favourites to the earliest classics in animation history, Netflix will lose rights to releases both new and old, beginning in 2019.
Moana, The Lion King, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves – you name it, Disney’s taking it away. Pixar, too, will likely be heading for the door, with their 2006 acquisition by the cooperate giant meaning iconic titles such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Cars may no longer be available to Netflix customers.
The stay-at-home-parent that once used the service to keep their kids entertained for hours may struggle soon enough, with such core and popular content being moved elsewhere. Want to keep watching Disney originals when the time comes?
Likelihood is, you’ll be paying for the privilege.
The Loss of Marvel
Superheroes are everywhere. They’re on our coffee mugs, our clothing, lunchboxes and billboards.
They have slots games online, video games and more action figures than one can possibly begin to comprehend. Superhero-themed slots online can be officially licensed or just feature creations by casino game developers themselves, but they constitute a big trend in online casino, in the same way that they help bring in massive audiences in television and movie screens.
You can’t go a mile through popular culture without Wolverine or Iron Man glaring haughtily back at you.
And it’s thanks, in part, to Marvel Studios. This industry giant has exploded in the past decade, with the franchise earning over $14 billion in the worldwide box office since their meteoric rise to fame in 2007. They’ve over a dozen series and 17 headline movies at the current count – no small part of Netflix’s rotating roster of film and television.
With the news of Disney’s exit, they’ll be going too, having been picked up years ago in a $4b dollar deal by the company and spun into the titan they are today.
The Force Abandons
First Disney, then Marvel, and now Star Wars. The originals, the prequels, the sequels: Lucasfilm in its entirety, movies, shows and copyright, are and have been owned by Disney since 2012.
As such, Netflix will be losing rights to their content, too, following the end of their dealings with Disney.
Whilst this might not have been such a terrible blow half-a-dozen years ago, Star Wars is back and at an all-time high given its new set of films, with plenty more to come in the future.
With Mickey, Obi-Wan and Thor all making the move to a new home online, it raises the quest: what’s next for Netflix?
With such mainstay, expected brand names disappearing from their catalogue, the future doesn’t look bright.
Competing online streaming services have been on the rise for years; Amazon, Hulu, HBO.
Disney looks to be the next to try and establish itself, and the attraction of their huge franchises is a massive loss for Netflix in terms of pulling in and maintaining subscribers.
Only time will tell whether they can weather such a storm, and if Netflix Originals will be enough to keep folks interested.