Some movies won’t be available for a while.
It took a couple of years, but Disney+ is finally doing more to patch the Spider-Man-sized hole in its Marvel movie lineup. The streaming service is adding the first wave of Spidey movies to its US catalog in the next few weeks. Sam Raimi’s trilogy and The Amazing Spider-Man will be available tomorrow (April 21st), while Homecoming and Venom arrive May 12th.
More of Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man movie and TV lineup will come to the US later in the year, Disney says. While you can already watch The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in at least some countries, this does mean you’ll have to wait if you want to watch titles like No Way Home or Into the Spider-Verse without turning to other services (and in some cases, paying for a purchase or rental).
The gap has long been a pain for Disney, and particularly since the launch of Disney+ in 2019. Sony has a perpetual film license for Spider-Man so long as it releases a new title every 5.75 years. Disney had to reach a deal to borrow the web-slinger for Avengers movies as Sony still had the rights to the character’s solitary adventures. You had to turn to Disney+ rivals like Netflix (which has exclusive rights for Sony movies) to see the rest of Spider-Man’s story.
Disney addressed that omission in 2021, when it struck a deal to access Sony’s theatrical releases through 2026 as well as archival Marvel titles like the Spider-Man series. You’re now seeing the fruits of that agreement — Disney+ doesn’t have to worry as much about viewers subscribing to competitors just to get their full superhero fix.