How can Disney+ add more mature films and TV shows? Disney launched their new streaming service in the United States last November, and it recently expanded across several European territories, including the U.K.. The House of Mouse has entered the streaming wars at just the right time, because while the global box office may be closed due to Coronavirus, streaming services are seeing more use than ever before.
Disney has accelerated their release schedule in the US, with Frozen 2 dropping on Disney+ on March 15, three months earlier than originally planned. Pixar's Onward - which was still in cinemas when the shutdown began - was added to the Disney+ library on April 3. So far, all the additions have been in-line with Disney's family brand, but there are signs the catalog may expand in an unexpected direction. Disney has sent out surveys to Disney+ subscribers asking if shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly should be added - far more mature fare than the typical content to date. But how will Disney differentiate these shows from their child-friendly content?
Oddly enough, the U.K. release of Disney+ may already have set a precedent. Disney+ U.K. has a bigger library of Marvel content, including the first five seasons of ABC's Agents of SHIELD. This is particularly interesting because from season 4, ABC moved the show to a later timeslot, allowing Agents of SHIELD to reinvent itself in a darker, more violent form. The opening scenes of the season 4 premiere seemed to openly acknowledge this, with sexy scenes of Quake getting dressed following by Ghost Rider violently killing some thugs.
Disney+ allows subscribers to create multiple profiles, including a kids' profile that contains a different library to the normal ones. Given the mature themes in Agents of SHIELD seasons 4 and 5, it's no surprise that the show is completely absent from the kids' library. What's more, if an adult plays an episode on their own profile, an age rating is shown. Disney could take exactly the same approach should they put more mature content on Disney+, including the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. It's even possible they could add New Mutants as well, since Disney is yet to announce a new release date.
This isn't to say Disney will ever add R-rated content, of course. The Fox acquisition gave Disney a vast library of R-rated content, including the Alien films and the Deadpool movies. This would be decidedly off-brand for Disney+, so this kind of content can safely be assigned to Hulu. Still, the example of Agents of SHIELD in the U.K. does indeed show how the streaming service can entertain more mature viewers as well.
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