Loki Scarlet Witch

Leave it to Disney to upstage the competition.  On the heels of the launch of Warner Brothers’ DC Universe streaming service, which doesn’t currently host any original content and won’t until ‘Titans’ premieres next month, it has been learned that when Disney’s streaming service, which may be called Disney Play, kicks off, it will likely include shows centering on popular Marvel film characters ‘Loki’ and ‘Scarlet Witch’, “along with other beloved superheroes who have yet to appear in their own standalone movies.”  This announcement was not made by Disney or Marvel but was reported by Variety.

Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen are expected to reprise their roles.  These shows are expected to consist of between six to eight episodes and will carry massive budgets on par with major studio releases.  And unlike the existing Marvel TV series, Marvel Studios and its president Kevin Feige will be involved.  These shows will NOT fall under the Marvel TV banner, which, unlike Marvel Studios, is part of the larger Marvel Entertainment label.

While the Marvel TV shows like ‘Agents of SHIELD’ and ‘Agent Carter’ began as spin-offs, and others, like the Netflix shows, reference the events in the movies, after tensions between the two entities, Kevin Feige had Marvel Studios separated and has since operated it in a bubble, refusing to acknowledge the TV division and even scrapping an ‘Inhumans’ movie that Marvel Entertainment had essentially forced Marvel Studios to make in exchange for allowing Feige to produce ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Captain Marvel’.  (‘Inhumans’ was instead turned into a poorly received TV miniseries with an IMAX premiere.)

Disney’s streaming service is expected to launch in late 2019.  A price point hasn’t been announced, but it will “likely cost less than Netflix.”  The service already had one gleaming jewel in its crown, Jon Favreau’s original ‘Star Wars’ TV series, plus a new ‘High School Musical’ series and a live-action ‘Lady & The Tramp’ movie.  It has also been announced that the Disney streaming service will (not surprisingly) be the only place to catch major theatrical releases like ‘Captain Marvel’ and the live action ‘Dumbo’ after they leave theaters.  For the time being, major Marvel movies like ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ are available on Netflix… for now.