Batman and Joker Now Available on Disney+! Platform Best to Stream Superhero Movies as Marvel and DC Unite
Thanks to the Hulu on Disney+ experience, viewers can now find top heroes from the DC Universe and the MCU on one streamer.
Disney+ is an incredibly versatile streaming platform, one that offers much more than the kids content that most audiences immediately associate the company with. Its programming lineup got another big upgrade this year when the streamer officially launched the Hulu on Disney+ one-app experience for customers who subscribe to both services. Thanks to a licensing deal between Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery, that arrangement means that Disney+ and Hulu subscribers can now watch films from the two biggest comic book-based franchises in U.S. media — DC and Marvel — on one streaming app.
Key Details
- Disney+ has been home to movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe for years but has never offered DC movies until now.
- Viewers can stream “The Batman” and “Joker” on Disney+ if they also have a Hulu subscription.
- Customers will also be able to stream the new season of “The Bear,” “The Acolyte” and much more on the Disney+ app with the Disney Duo Basic bundle.
The rivalry between DC and Marvel is far older than the cinematic universes of the two comic brands. But the popularity of movies from the Marvel and DC universes has breathed new life into the friendly struggle between the two; DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn was first hired in that role in October 2022, after directing the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies for Disney and Marvel, for instance.
In comic books, there have been numerous crossovers between the two company’s heroes and villains over the decades, and we are now getting a slightly different version of that via streaming. Fans may think of the Marvel vs. DC argument in binary terms, but the companies that own the rights to the two franchises see benefit in cooperation. Warner Bros. Discovery has had a licensing agreement in place with Hulu for multiple years, and while it has never sent DC movies like “Justice League” or “Man of Steel” to stream there, it has sent many other films to Hulu over the course of the deal.
Now, that deal has allowed Hulu —and by extension Disney+ — to get their hands on two movies featuring beloved DC characters: 2022’s “The Batman” starring Robert Pattinson, and 2019’s “Joker” featuring Joaquin Phoenix. Both movies take place outside the canon of the main DC Extended Universe, but they are incredibly well-regarded films that center on some of the franchise’s most popular characters.
What Else Can You Stream on Disney+?
Disney+ is the home of every Marvel Cinematic Universe project on film, from the franchise’s beginnings with the 2008 movie “Iron Man” to this year’s animated release “X-Men '97” and everything in between. It also has many projects based on Marvel heroes that preceded the MCU, such as the “X-Men” movies brought to life by Fox starting in the early 2000s. The rights to those films were acquired by Disney in 2019 when it purchased the vast majority of Fox’s entertainment assets.
Because of the Hulu on Disney+ launch, viewers can also stream a wide variety of general entertainment titles alongside their Disney+ favorites on a single app. There’s a big audience awaiting the newest season of the Hulu sensation “The Bear,” and viewers will be able to stream it directly on Disney+ when it debuts on June 27 after wrapping up the latest episode of “The Acolyte” or any other Disney+ original they choose.
DC and Marvel titles will draw even more closely together this summer when Disney+, Hulu, and Max join together in a new soft bundle. The three services won’t be offered all in one app, but they will be available at a discounted price and will give customers access to all the on-demand content from both franchises in one product.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”