Disney is hoping to sign on some of Marvel’s biggest superheroes for a new streaming service, according to a new report.
The entertainment giant is planning to premiere shows featuring wildly popular Marvel superheroes—namely Loki and the Scarlet Witch, among others—on its upcoming streaming service, Variety is reporting, citing sources. Disney apparently wants to focus on characters who haven’t yet had their own feature films, but will still dedicate silver screen-level budgets to the series, according to the report.
The entertainment industry is bracing for Disney’s streaming service launch. The company has kept most of the service’s details out of the spotlight, but has said that it hopes to launch it in late 2019. It’s widely believed that Disney (DIS) will only make its content available through its own streaming service, putting pressure on Netflix and Amazon (AMZN), which wouldn’t be able to access a vast library of content entertainment-seekers would want.
Adding Marvel superheroes to the mix could prove to be a major coup for Disney’s service. If the company has exclusive access to its selected Marvel superheroes, the legion of Marvel fans could turn to Disney’s offering, applying even more pressure to Netflix (NFLX).
Still, the cost is expected to be significant, according to Variety‘s sources. And each series will start with six to eight episodes in their first seasons.
When the series premiere, they’ll be flanked by a variety of legacy and new Disney content, including a new live action Star Wars series that will cost $100 million to produce, according to Variety.