The introduction of Disney Plus as Disney‘s own streaming service seemed to change the studio’s strategy regarding most of their major brands. IPs like Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar essentially became entire subgenres for Disney Plus content. Now, after several years of saturation for the respective brands, a new report covers the so-called damage that Disney Plus did to these properties and how the studio hopes to recover.
The report falls in line with previous statements made by various executives, including Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige who acknowledged that there was too much MCU content being distributed on Disney Plus. While fans were initially ecstatic about seeing so many more Marvel characters brought to life, it eventually led to oversaturation and brand confusion as interest in the MCU waned.
Star Wars faced similar issues, with a variety of live-action and animated shows having been produced in recent years. As further elaborated in a piece by The Wrap, a marketing executive pointed out how much damage these strategies caused Star Wars and how it took away the appeal for fans.
“When you went to a Star Wars movie, it used to be special. But there’s a difference between let’s have a movie every four years versus let’s have three shows on the air all the time and have a movie every year,” the executive shared.
This echoes a similar sentiment made by a producer and how “people don’t care now” about Marvel as a result of the Disney Plus expansion:
“Given the quality of the Marvel Disney+ output has been incredibly mediocre, it’s dragged the entire brand down and diluted its creative. People don’t care now.”
We’ve seen Disney, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm attempt to rectify these issues more recently. For example, many of the Star Wars shows for Disney Plus are being concluded with several theatrical projects being put in the works instead. Marvel Studios is attempting to produce more traditional and stand-alone television shows with their Marvel properties, allowing less homework for MCU fans to study.
It remains to be seen how Disney’s other labels, such as Pixar, will recover. The studio has failed to find success with its attempts at original IPs, and so far they have major sequels in the works including Toy Story 5 to try and win audiences over again.
Ultimately, we’ll have to see how Disney’s new strategies pan out. While Disney Plus once seemed like a golden opportunity during its initial launch, it has proven itself to cause more damage than executives were prepared for.