As it prepares to launch its own streaming service, Disney has announced that the upcoming superhero blockbuster Captain Marvel will be the first Marvel Studios release to be held back from Netflix, and will instead make its streaming debut on the Disney+ service.
As a result of forgoing streaming licensing on Captain Marvel and other 2019 releases – presumably including the likes of Avengers: Endgame, Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King, Toy Story 4, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: Episode IX – Disney expects to lose around $150 million in revenue, although of course it will be hoping that its catalogue of content is enough to tempt subscribers to flock to Disney+ in what Disney CEO Bob Iger described as “a bet on the future of this business.”
Captain Marvel isn’t the first Marvel casualty for Netflix, with the TV shows Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Daredevil all axed in recent months, and The Punisher and Jessica Jones expected to follow suit.
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Set in the 1990s, Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that follows the journey of Carol Danvers as she becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes. While a galactic war between two alien races reaches Earth, Danvers finds herself and a small cadre of allies at the center of the maelstrom.
Captain Marvel is being directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Mississippi Grind) and sees Brie Larson (Kong: Skull Island) leading the cast as Carol Danvers alongside Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers), Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy), Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy), Lashana Lynch (Fast Girls), Gemma Chan (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Algenis Perez Soto (Sambá), Rune Temte (Eddie The Eagle), McKenna Grace (I, Tonya), Annette Bening (American Beauty), Ana Ayora (The Big Wedding), Vik Sahay (Chuck), Kenneth Mitchell (Star Trek: Discovery), Chuku Modo (The Good Doctor), Clark Gregg (The Avengers) and Jude Law (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald). It is set for release on March 8th.
