The decision for Disney+ to exclude so many of Disney’s most popular movies can be explained by marketing. Despite including 862 movies and TV shows at launch, Disney+ is still missing out on a large number of high-profile movies and franchises that subscribers might normally expect to find on the service.
Disney’s new streaming service goes live on November 12 and features classic Disney films and shows, along with properties from 20th Century Fox, Marvel, and Pixar. On top of a slew of original TV shows set in the worlds of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, and more, Disney+ is packed with content. Subscribers can stream movies from the MCU, forgotten deep-cuts from the 1960s, classic fan-favorites like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Sword in the Stone, and recent Disney remakes like Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book.
However, there’s a quite a lot that Disney+ doesn’t have. The entire X-Men series, Avatar, Maleficent, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and 16 movies in the MCU are among the most glaring omissions from its launch lineup. Some of these absences can simply be explained by streaming rights. For example, streaming rights to movies like Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Thor: Ragnarok currently belong to Netflix. But the explanation for all these exclusions goes a bit deeper than that. What it all comes down to do is marketing. Disney understands that its more advantageous to them to hold back some of its content.
Releasing it all at once may not have been a good marketing move on Disney’s part. Disney wants its customers to have plenty of reasons to continuously renew their subscriptions. So with this in mind, it makes sense for Disney to keep a few things in their back pocket. In a few months, Disney can add another batch of movies to the streaming service. Each batch can include a few major releases that will help maintain consumer interest in Disney+ and drive new subscribers after the initial wave.
While new shows like The Mandalorian and all the MCU TV shows are an important part of Disney+’s appeal, they aren’t the only motivating factors for why people may subscribe to Disney+. For those who are mostly invested in their movies, Disney will need to continue adding new films. So while Disney+‘s current list of programs may be depressing to some, the lineup is sure to grow tremendously in the coming months and years.
More: Why The MCU’s Spider-Man Movies Aren’t On Disney+