Disney Plus: How to find out when missing Marvel, Star Wars movies are coming – CNET

If you signed up for Disney Plus earlier this week only to discover that some of your favorite Disney-owned properties are not currently available on the nascent streaming service, you’re not alone. Thanks to previous licensing agreements with Netflix and others, a host of blockbuster films like Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Avengers: Infinity War and The Incredibles 2 and dozens more were not available for streaming at launch. Many won’t be showing on Disney Plus for months or even years to come.

That’s a challenge for Disney, which started its streaming service to compete with former partners like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Luring subscribers — many of whom already pay a monthly subscription fee for movies and shows — may be harder for Disney when popular titles are missing.

Whether you’ve already subscribed to Disney Plus or you’re still on the fence about which streaming service is right for you, we’ve done the legwork to help you figure out when your favorite Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Touchstone movies will be available to stream. Here’s what we know so far.

How to find out when your favorites will be available

If nothing else, at least Disney Plus is up-front about the gaps in its catalog and will return searches for the missing titles with information about when they will become available. You can even add movies like the live-action version of The Jungle Book or Mary Poppins Returns to your watchlist, even though neither of those films will arrive on Disney Plus until 2021. Here’s how to look up a movie for yourself to see if it’s currently available or when it will arrive on Disney Plus:

1. Open the Disney Plus app on your phone, tablet, smart TV or set-top box, or go to the Disney Plus website on a desktop browser.

2. Select the Search option from the menu bar.

3. Enter the name of the movie you’re looking for and select it from the search results.

4. If the movie is available now, you’ll see a Play button. If it’s not available now but will be in the future, the listing will tell you when you can watch it on Disney Plus. 

5. If you’re not ready to watch now, or the movie isn’t available yet, select the plus sign (+) to add it to your watchlist.

We’ve also compiled a list of some of the more popular movies that aren’t available yet on Disney Plus, including when they will make it to the service and where else, if anywhere, you can stream them now. 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is still incomplete

Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be glad to note there are 16 MCU films available for streaming at launch, including the recent Avengers: Endgame. A few of the missing titles will be arriving within the next year. Here’s a list of those titles, when they will be available on Disney Plus, and what, if any, service you can watch them on in the meantime.

Movie	Disney Plus release date	Where you can watch it now
Thor: Ragnarok	Dec. 5, 2019	Netflix
Black Panther	March 4, 2020	Netflix
Avengers: Infinity War	June 25, 2020	Netflix
Ant-Man and The Wasp	June 29, 2020	Netflix

Star Wars series missing just two key films

Star Wars fans will have a nearly complete collection available at launch, with all three films from the original trilogy, all three prequels, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and, thanks to a last-minute deal brokered with Starz, 2015’s Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. You’ll have to wait, however, for these two installments:

Movie	Disney Plus release date	Where you can watch it now
Star Wars: The Last Jedi	Dec. 26, 2019	Netflix
Solo: A Star Wars Story	July 9, 2020	Netflix

Nearly all computer-animated films available at launch

Fans of Pixar are in luck — most of Pixar and Disney’s computer-animated features can be streamed from Day 1, including the first three Toy Story movies, all three Cars films, both Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, Frozen, Inside Out and more. Notable exceptions you’ll have to wait for include:

Movie	Disney Plus release date	Where you can watch it now
Coco	Nov. 29, 2019	Netflix
The Incredibles 2	July 30, 2020	Netflix
Ralph Breaks the Internet	Dec. 11, 2020	Netflix

Latest live-action remakes still unavailable

Disney Studios have made a big push in recent years to reinvigorate many of its animated classics with live-action remakes (that, in all fairness, use so much digital trickery they’re more like live-action/computer animation hybrids). Aladdin and The Lion King are still showing in a few theaters, so no word just yet on when those will arrive on Disney Plus. Subscribers can already watch Dumbo, Lady and the Tramp, Alice in Wonderland and 101 Dalmatians, but will have to wait for a few others, including:

Movie	Disney Plus release date	Where you can watch it now
Beauty and the Beast	Oct. 1, 2020	Rent or buy*
The Jungle Book	May 30, 2021	Rent or buy

*Rent or buy titles are available via most major media stores, such as iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Fandango, PlayStation, Microsoft Store and Vudu, unless otherwise indicated.

A few other notable films you’ll have to wait for

Rounding out the list of recent films you might have expected to see on Disney Plus, but will need to wait for because of licensing contracts with other streaming services, are:

Movie	Disney Plus release date	Where you can watch it now
A Wrinkle in Time	March 25, 2020	Netflix
Christopher Robin	Sept. 5, 2020	Netflix
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms	Nov. 29, 2020	Netflix
Mary Poppins Returns	Jan. 9, 2021	Netflix
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales	Dec. 2, 2020	Rent or buy
Alice Through the Looking Glass	Dec. 11, 2019	Rent or buy
Tomorrowland	Sept. 1, 2021	Rent or buy on Amazon
McFarland, USA	Oct. 23, 2021	Rent or buy on Amazon
Maleficent	Oct. 1, 2020	Rent or buy on Amazon

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