Disney+ officially joins the streaming wars
Disney+ has officially become part of your streaming world.
The brand new Disney streaming service officially launched in the U.S. on Tuesday morning, debuting with the first episode of the live-action Star Wars TV series The Mandalorian. As promised, the premiere featured a bombshell reveal for the franchise that sparked quite a bit of Twitter buzz. Other originals available at launch include the new live-action Lady and the Tramp movie and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
The Disney+ library also boasts tons of films from throughout the studio's history, including its animated classics, plus Star Wars and Marvel films, although not everything is available immediately; some movies, like Star Wars: The Last Jedi, are tied up on Netflix for now.
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Also available on Disney+ is Avengers: Endgame, which became the highest-grossing film of all time earlier this year and originally wasn't expected to debut on the service until December. Films have a separate tab on the service for bonus features, and Endgame's section includes a previously-unreleased deleted scene in which Katherine Langford plays an older version of Tony Stark's daughter in a vision sequence.
The Disney+ launch comes less than two weeks after Apple also entered the streaming market with its own streaming service, Apple TV+, which costs $4.99 per month. Disney CEO Bob Iger has described Disney+ as a "bet on the future of this business," clearly having realized that streaming ain't no passing craze.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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