Disney+ gets R-rated Marvel show; Hulu Gets ‘American Crime Story’
Violent, mouth-watering superheroes are coming to Disney+, but parents will be able to prevent their kids from watching them.
The streamer announced Tuesday that Marvel TV series “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage,” “Iron Fist,” “The Defenders” and “The Punisher” are moving from Netflix to Disney+ on March 16. (ABC’s former series). “Agents of SHIELD” will also stream on Disney+).
And with the arrival of these mature series — which aren’t shy about adult content, including violence, nudity and profanity — the family-friendly platform is also rolling out updated parental controls that will ask all subscribers to adjust their settings if they want to block such content from younger children.
All Disney+ subscribers in the US will be prompted to set parental controls when the new titles arrive. The updated controls will include improved content ratings and PIN protection, Disney says.
Hulu, which is majority owned by Disney, is also adding a number of new series: three Ryan Murphy dramas that aired on FX and previously streamed on Netflix. Hulu will stream all past and future seasons of “American Crime Story” and “American Horror Story,” along with “Pose,” which recently ended its run. All three Emmy Award-winning series are from prolific producer Ryan Murphy. The final season of “Pose” and the final season of Monica Lewinsky/Bill Clinton-themed “Crime” will stream on Hulu on March 7.
These moves help Disney consolidate its franchises on its own streamers, and also remove a large portion of popular content from the Netflix library. All but a few of Marvel’s live-action series — including Freeform’s “Cloak and Dagger,” Hulu’s “Helstrom,” Fox’s “The Gifted” and FX’s “Legion” — are now part of Disney+’s massive catalog. Bringing “Crime,” “Horror” and “Pose” to Hulu means all of Ryan Murphy’s FX TV series will be on one streamer.
On Disney+, the new programs represent a change in strategy. While “SHIELD,” which aired on ABC from 2013-20, largely fits in with other content on Disney+, including the streamer’s original Marvel series like “Loki” and “Hawkeye,” the rest of the new series was originally made for Netflix and is significantly more adult than Disney+ has offered so far. “Jessica Jones,” for example, deals with heavy themes including sexual assault. “Luke Cage” tackles racism and violence against black men. Extremely violent, “Punisher” follows an anti-hero vigilante who is quick to use weapons.
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Early in Disney+’s life, executives said the streaming service would never include these series because of their adult content. However, Disney+ has continued to evolve since it debuted in 2019. The streamer recently added ABC sitcoms “Black-ish” and “The Wonder Years” to its library, as well as movies like Ryan Reynolds’ video game set “Free Guy. The new acquisitions appear to be part of a strategy to diversify content on Disney+ to attract more than just Star Wars fans and parents of preschoolers hooked on “Bluey” and “Encanto.”
Disney+ also continues to produce original Marvel series, including the horror-themed “Moon Knight,” starring Oscar Isaac, which premieres March 30.
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