When will Disney Plus launch in the UK? We may have to wait two years
For a while now, us UK-based Disney fans have been wondering “When will Disney Plus launch in the UK?” Now, some of us probably wish we’d never asked.
Disney has confirmed its new streaming service will launch in the US, Canada and Netherlands on November 12, and it will go live in Australia and New Zealand a week later.
The most worrying part of the news (or lack of it) is Disney’s comment regarding the wider rollout of Disney Plus. It’s expected to launch in most major markets within the first two years.
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That’s a very big window, and if Disney Plus doesn’t launch in the UK until the very end of this two-year period, we’ll end up missing out on these shows:
- The Mandalorian (November 2019)
- The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (Autumn 2020)
- WandaVision (Spring 2021)
- Loki (Spring 2020)
- Hawkeye (Autumn 2021)
For any Marvel fans still coming to terms with the news that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man could be exiting the MCU, this is even more unwelcome news. What’s more, even more shows are likely to be announced in the coming months.
Hopefully Disney Plus comes to the UK sooner than this, but two years is all we have to go on at the moment.
We don’t know the exact reason for the lack of news regarding a UK launch. When it comes to big-name services, the UK has always tended to be one of the first countries on anyone’s list.
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Many Disney properties are already available in the UK in some form or another – Sky regularly shows Disney-owned movies on its channels. Content licensing deals like these could be one factor in the Disney Plus UK delay.
There has also been some speculation that new European Union legislation could have played a part. The EU recently introduced legislation that requires 30-40% of content on a streaming service to be made locally in countries where the service is available.
However, the Netherlands being one of the initial launch day countries for Disney Plus seems to break this theory.
Trusted Reviews has asked Disney for more details. This article will be updated when we hear back.
In the meantime, it’s safe to say that some UK-based Disney fans that have been eagerly anticipating Disney Plus’s launch are… less than happy:
@disneyplus why the hell isn't the UK part of the rollout deal you said you were going to rollout to the big markets, the uk is a big market can you provide a date when the uk will get it, as you will probably find out on social media we are not happy #disney
— terence walsh (@terrywalsh23) August 19, 2019
Hey @disneyplus announce UK launch date and prices pic.twitter.com/zsb38Cxw78
— Darth Noga (@darth_noga) August 20, 2019
Hopefully, there’ll be better news soon but – for now – you can sign up to get updates on Disney Plus UK here.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.