Netflix is notoriously known for its large variety of content. A huge marketing point for Netflix is the large amount of content related to animation works. One movie that was an amazing example of this was Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. It stood out for both being a part of Marvel and having the art style of stylized CGI. And today, the whole movie has parted ways with Netflix.
A background on Netflix is a concept easy to explain. With movies and TV shows from other companies, Netflix has a contract in place. The contract lasts 18 months, making whatever content signed available on the website for that long. For featured media that remains on the platform longer, it’s due to another contract being made. This is crucial for Netflix as a company, as there are certain franchises that Netflix heavily relies on through these contracts. Media such as Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls, Young Sheldon, and Total Drama Island are all examples of shows on Netflix that highly profit the company. This is why Netflix Originals are even more common. It’s a way for the company to promote both original content and, in the long term, support other content.
So when a popular series such as Across the Spider-Verse leaves, it isn’t something that goes unnoticed. When the “Leaving Soon” notice appeared at the bottom of the movie’s cover, it raised a lot of questions—such as whether the film would move to rent-only or if it would join the first movie in premium streaming service sections. Instead of joining the streaming services that Into the Spider-Verse was on, Sony Animations decided to let Disney be the only streaming service where you could watch the movie without having to pay extra for it.
This is a very interesting outcome for three simple reasons. First of all, the first movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, will not be joining the second movie—at least for now—on the platform. This ties into the fact that putting the film on Disney+ means that the streaming service has the rights to host all the Spider-Man movies on their platform, with the exception of No Way Home and, obviously, Into the Spider-Verse. More importantly, this decision was immediately put into action and changed the platform the day the contract ended—and notably, it was transferred to Disney.
The reason why this was so intriguing is that it was clear this decision had been planned for a while. Signing a contract and adding a whole new movie is a long process. It makes it clear that a renewal with Netflix was never an option. Furthermore, it was especially fascinating that the movie was being passed on to Netflix’s biggest competitor. Both Disney and Netflix have had a lot of overlap. Some of the most popular kids’ shows on Netflix, such as Bunk’d and Miraculous, were also being released on Disney, lowering interest in the series and resulting in a loss of Disney-produced or owned content being streamed on Netflix.
As of today, it is too early to know if any further conflict between the two companies will happen. No public information has been released regarding whether Disney is planning to obtain the rights to Into the Spider-Verse.