Marvel, Star Wars rock debut of Disney Plus
$7 a month price is about half of the $13 Netflix charges
NEW YORK — Disney will sprinkle its pixie dust on the streaming arena Tuesday, as its Disney Plus service debuts with an arsenal of marquee franchises including Marvel and Star Wars, original series with a built-in fan base and a cheap price to boot.
The $7-a-month commercialfree service is poised to set the standard for other services like WarnerMedia’s HBO Max and NBCUniversal’s Peacock to follow, as major media companies behind hit TV shows and movies seek to siphon the subscription revenue now going to Netflix and other streaming giants.
Disney’s properties speak to its strengths. Besides classic characters such as Snow White and Pinocchio, Disney has Pixar,
Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic — big names that most people would recognize. Disney Plus will also have all 30 past seasons of “The Simpsons.” Original shows include “The Mandalorian,” set in the Star Wars universe, and one on the Marvel character Loki.
Melissa Knerr, 26, a criminal defense attorney in Springfield, Missouri, already has Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime and wasn’t sure she wanted to pay for another one. She said she was swayed by Disney Plus’s price tag and its “sheer amount of content.”
Disney Plus’s $7 a month price is about half of the $13 Netflix charges for its most popular plan, and there are discounts for paying for a full year up front. Disney is also offering a $13 package bundling Disney Plus with two other services it owns, Hulu and ESPN Plus. That’s $5 cheaper than signing up for each one individually.
Everything won’t be available to stream right away, though.