- Disney Plus launched in November with a bunch of titles from its vast library – but it’s missing three of the 23 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.
- Distribution rights for the “Spider-Man” movies and “The Incredible Hulk” are owned by other studios.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Disney Plus launched in November with a library of Disney animated classics, blockbuster movies, and a “Star Wars” original series.
But what it doesn’t have are three movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the highest-grossing movie franchise in history.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” finally landed on the service last week after its time on Netflix expired.
Here are the 20 MCU movies Disney Plus does have available to stream, including “Avengers: Infinity War,” which moved from Netflix to Disney Plus.
- "Iron Man" (2008)
- "Iron Man 2" (2010)
- "Thor" and "Captain America: The First Avenger" (2011)
- "Avengers" (2012)
- "Iron Man 3" and "Thor: The Dark World" (2013)
- "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014)
- "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Ant-Man" (2015)
- "Captain America: Civil War" and "Doctor Strange" (2016)
- "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" and "Thor: Ragnarok" (2017)
- "Black Panther," "Avengers: Infinity War," and "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (2018)
- "Captain Marvel" and "Avengers: Endgame" (2019)
For the remaining movies, Disney doesn't own the distribution rights to them.
Spider-Man's movie rights, for instance, are owned by Sony, which renewed a deal with Disney last year after a brief squabble over the character's movie future. Spider-Man can appear in the MCU, but Sony retains distribution rights, meaning the character's solo MCU movies likely won't appear on Disney Plus unless another deal is struck.
Below are three MCU movies that aren't on Disney Plus and why:
"The Incredible Hulk" (2008)
Why it's not on Disney Plus: Universal Pictures owns the distribution rights to "The Incredible Hulk." The studio coproduced the movie with Marvel Studios. Unless Disney strikes a deal with Universal, the movie won't appear on Disney Plus. For die-hard MCU fans, this might be disappointing. But for casual viewers, the movie isn't an essential entry in the franchise (the actor Edward Norton was replaced with Mark Ruffalo in "Avengers").
"Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017)
Why it's not on Disney Plus: Sony owns the film rights to "Spider-Man" movies and can keep them as long as it releases a movie every five years. The studio struck a deal with Marvel Studios in 2015 to allow the character to appear in the MCU. Sony would retain distribution rights to the character's solo movies, while Disney would earn a percentage of box-office gross and all merchandising revenue. Sony and Disney struck a new deal last year for the actor Tom Holland's Spider-Man to star in one more solo movie and appear in one other MCU movie. If Disney wants "Homecoming" on Disney Plus, it will have to strike another deal with Sony.
"Spider-Man: Far From Home" (2019)
Why it's not on Disney Plus: Like "Homecoming," Sony owns the distribution rights to "Far From Home," and the movie won't be on Disney Plus until Disney strikes a streaming deal with Sony. It's currently streaming on Starz with a subscription.