Marvel Cinematic Universe on Disney+ - General Discussion (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

Will all major brand TV’s and BD players get updates to add the Disney+ app? Or will it be available as an add on to Amazon like CBS All Access?

My guess is that the standalone streaming media devices like Roku, Chromecast, Fire Stick, and Apple TV will all have the Disney+ app available in their channel stores.

Implementation for "smart" TVs and "smart" Blu-Ray players will probably vary by manufacturer. But my experience with them is that they don't tend to add apps after they go to market, instead support for apps gradually declines over time. New "smart" TVs and "smart" Blu-Ray players almost certainly will have Disney+ support from probably mid-2020 forward.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Implementation for "smart" TVs and "smart" Blu-Ray players will probably vary by manufacturer. But my experience with them is that they don't tend to add apps after they go to market, instead support for apps gradually declines over time.

Frankly, this is why I use a set top box even though my Blu-ray players and TVs have come with apps built in. I've noticed that the technical quality of the video when streaming on those devices does not appear to be up to the same quality as the stand-alone boxes, and there's never any support for the apps.

That's probably why major the different subscription services have deals with apps like Hulu and Amazon to service as providers - so that, for instance, CBS All Access can still reach subscribers who are stuck on a device which only offers Amazon Prime and Hulu but not the ability to add new apps.

 

[Josh Dial]

Disney confirmed that the PS4 will have a Disney+ app. No word on PS3 (which is the device I currently use for my streaming apps--but I'd switch to my PS4 if I had to).

 

[Sean Bryan]

Have they said anything about 4K?

As far as I’m concerned, it should be part of the standard service and not only available with an up charge. I haven’t heard anything mentioned about it either way, so I’m hoping it is just part of the normal service.

 

[Greg.K]

Have they said anything about 4K?

According this Verge article, yes to 4K. No word on any upcharges.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/11/...date-first-look-shows-movies-marvel-star-wars

 

[Sean Bryan]

I'm a little confused by what you mean - CBS All Access is available as a stand-alone app, and it can be purchased within several other apps as an add-on to an existing subscription, like Amazon and Hulu. It's entirely up to the user which method of subscription they prefer, but the subscription price and offerings are identical regardless of which method one uses to sign up. There are many subscription services that are available this way.

It seems extremely likely that Disney+ will be available both as a standalone app, and as an add-on through existing subscription services. At the very least, Disney has already commented that there will be a Disney+/Hulu combo offering.

The only streaming services I’ve ever used (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and VUDU) have been through apps on my TV or BD player with the exception of CBS All Access which I added through Prime for a month to watch Star Trek.

I wasn’t sure how common it was to have another new streaming service become available through an existing streaming service like CBS AA through Prime as I’ve never looked into any of the other upstarts.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I'm going to put the link to this article in quotes because it could constitute a spoiler for where they leave the character in Endgame, but I'm not sure what to make of it because it doesn't make sense and mostly I'm just confused by it. Anyway, Variety got a quote from Elizabeth Olsen about the WandaVision series.

Spoiler

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/disney-wandavision-details-elizabeth-olsen-1203197323/

 

[Sam Favate]

$6.99 a month looks to be a really great deal. This looks like the service CBS All Access wishes it could be.

Indeed. Disney+ is going to make CBS AA look really bad by comparison. The ad version of CBS AA is the same price as Disney+, which has a lot more content, especially original content, and is ad-free.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Indeed. Disney+ is going to make CBS AA look really bad by comparison. The ad version of CBS AA is the same price as Disney+, which has a lot more content, especially original content, and is ad-free.

Disney+ has the potential to change the landscape for a lot of streaming services.

I don't necessarily think any of them charge something unreasonable, but I also don't watch a lot of that content, so I'm not hugely motivated to subscribe unless there's something specific I want to see. The Disney+ pricing makes it easier to commit without having a firm plan to watch anything specific. And I wonder if Disney+ is as successful as I think it will be, if customers of other services will complain and consider cutting back. Why should HBO Now's service be valued at $15 a month for a much more limited selection of programming, when Disney+ will offer far more for less than half of that? Will HBO Now be forced to cut their price? Or will people who watch HBO Now care so much about the things they do watch on it that the price won't matter?

 

[Sam Favate]

Disney+ has the potential to change the landscape for a lot of streaming services.

I don't necessarily think any of them charge something unreasonable, but I also don't watch a lot of that content, so I'm not hugely motivated to subscribe unless there's something specific I want to see. The Disney+ pricing makes it easier to commit without having a firm plan to watch anything specific. And I wonder if Disney+ is as successful as I think it will be, if customers of other services will complain and consider cutting back. Why should HBO Now's service be valued at $15 a month for a much more limited selection of programming, when Disney+ will offer far more for less than half of that? Will HBO Now be forced to cut their price? Or will people who watch HBO Now care so much about the things they do watch on it that the price won't matter?

I guarantee HBO is going to push hard to have that Game of Thrones prequel ready as soon as possible, sometime in 2020.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Or will people who watch HBO Now care so much about the things they do watch on it that the price won't matter?

In regards to HBO specifically, I think that question will be answered differently in a post-Game of Thrones landscape and largely depends on whether HBO succeeds in developing another show that hits the cultural zeitgeist in the way that that one did.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I'm not so sure Game Of Thrones is ultimately that important to them. Don't get me wrong, it's their big hit show, but they have more to offer than that. They were a high priced, premium service before Game Of Thrones, and there's every indication they will be afterwards. I don't watch Game Of Thrones, but my understanding is that this year's season will be just six episodes. That's two months of subscription time, or one month if you don't mind starting a little late and playing catch-up. In other words, Game Of Thrones alone doesn't make HBO's $15 fee viable, and the absence of Game Of Thrones won't suddenly tank their business.

But with Disney+ to launch with (presumably) high quality original programming on par with HBO's originals, it may raise a more existential question about whether any individual service is worth $15. Just as Napster taught a generation of music listeners to expect music to be free, or Spotify taught the next generation that for $10 a month, you could have every song every recorded, will Disney+ at $7 create a new cultural expectation that streaming media shouldn't be priced higher than that?

I don't know the answer to that question. I'm not sure anyone can know it right at this second. But I'm very curious to see how it all plays out.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm not so sure Game Of Thrones is ultimately that important to them. Don't get me wrong, it's their big hit show, but they have more to offer than that. They were a high priced, premium service before Game Of Thrones, and there's every indication they will be afterwards.

HBO's greatest strength has always been being a boutique label that has a small, well-curated stable of shows with strong reputations. I think AT&T's desire for higher quantity targeted to a broader audience is ultimately going to backfire.

 

[Sam Favate]

Looks like Hulu is the new home for the more adult Marvel TV shows. Variety reports that Marvel will have a Ghost Rider series and a Helstrom series ("Son of Satan," "Satana") on Hulu in 2020. Ghost Rider looks likely to be played by Gabriel Luna, who played the character on Agents of SHIELD. (Luna confirmed his involvement via a tweet.) These will be live-action shows, unlike the new animated series already announced for Hulu. The shows will be produced by Jeph Loeb.

It's a good bet that the Netflix shows could find a home here.

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/ghost-rider-helstrom-marvel-series-hulu-1203201891/

 

[Jake Lipson]

Sebastian Stan talked a little bit about what Bucky might be up to in the Falcon and Winter Soldier series:

https://www.slashfilm.com/falcon-and-winter-soldier-series/

 

[Jake Lipson]

Kari Skogland has signed on to direct The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which will be six episodes and air August 2020. Emily VanCamp (Sharon Carter) and Daniel Bruhl (Zemo from Civil War) are in negotiations to join.

https://deadline.com/2019/05/kari-s...-stan-daniel-bruhl-emily-van-camp-1202619197/

I've been a huge fan of Emily VanCamp for a long time, well before she joined the MCU, so I'm always happy to get more Sharon Carter, and her presence here makes sense. Zemo is much more of a surprise, and I'm really curious to see how he figures into the story. Hopefully Shuri got out all of Bucky's Hydra programming, or there could be problems. But it's also going to be great to see Bucky face the man who made him blow up the United Nations.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Kari Skogland has signed on to direct The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which will be six episodes and air August 2020. Emily VanCamp (Sharon Carter) and Daniel Bruhl (Zemo from Civil War) are in negotiations to join.

I really like the sound of that!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Malcolm Spellman is the writer. I'm not sure if these limited series are being produced more like a television series, where the writer has final say, or like a feature film, where the director has final say.

I can't say that any of Skogland's work I've seen has stood out as memorably good or memorably bad. She delivered episodes that seamless fit in with the series they featured in.

Spellman's been a writer on "Empire", which I've never seen so I can't make any judgements there.

Those tidbits sound promising, though.

 

[Sam Favate]

Anything that brings us more Sharon Carter is a good thing.

 

[Josh Dial]

I can't say that any of Skogland's work I've seen has stood out as memorably good or memorably bad. She delivered episodes that seamless fit in with the series they featured in.

Her work on both Condor and The Handmaid's Tale was great (I don't recall much about her episode of Punisher). In particular, she has a good eye for shadows and shoots great scenes with both harsh and soft lightning--check out episode 6 of Condor for a good example.