Why ‘Captain Marvel’ Won’t Stream On Netflix

“Captain Marvel” is an intergalactic movie, but one place it won’t go is Netflix. Disney has confirmed that the movie won’t be on the streaming service.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said that “Captain Marvel” will instead go to Disney+, the company’s new streaming service, Deadline reports. Disney’s deal with Netflix, which includes their Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm movies, does not include movies released after 2018. “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” which was added to Netflix last month, was the final Marvel Studios movie to hit Netflix.

“Captain Marvel” is the first Marvel Studios release of 2019 and the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to be headlined by a solo female superhero. Oscar winner Brie Larson plays the air force pilot turned alien warrior. “Captain Marvel” shows the titular character returning to Earth to figure out the past she can’t remember and to help end the war between two alien races, the Kree and Skrulls. The film is due out March 8, which is also International Women’s Day.

The film is not a direct sequel to “Avengers: Infinity War,” but the 2018 movie ended with Captain Marvel’s logo showing up on a pager. That makes it pretty clear that she is being called to help fight Thanos (Josh Brolin), and fans are hoping the March origin movie connects to April’s “Avengers: Endgame.”

MCU movies typically hit Netflix within about six months of release, but it isn’t clear exactly when “Captain Marvel” will hit Disney+. There is still no launch date for Disney+, but it is supposed to be ready by the end of 2019.

When it stops licensing movies to Netflix, Disney expects to lose about $150 million in operating income, CNBC reports. While future titles are probably largely going to Disney+, the Mouse House still has a stake in Hulu, another big streaming service. They’ll own 60% of the company after the acquisition of 21st Century Fox is completed later this year.

Disney has been phasing out their titles from Netflix for several months. Every month, Netflix releases a list of expiring titles, and in recent months, every list has had at least a couple of Disney-owned titles.