Marvel Movies Heading to Netflix?!
Plenty of Popcorn Flix Heading to Disney+ Rival
OH-kay. So, I have a confession. I have a guilty pleasure – that would be Venom.
Yes, the non-MCU (?) movie set in a Sony Spider-Verse features Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, and Reid Scott is a go-to fun popcorn flick for me.
Anyway, I bought it on iTunes back in the day, so I pop it on whenever I don’t want to think.
And I love laughing about lines like:
We will eat both your arms, and then both of your legs, and then we will eat your face right off your head. You will be this armless, legless, faceless little thing, won’t you? Rolling down the street like a turd in the wind.
Now, I am not so snobbish to say that any non-MCU Marvel film is bad. They’re not.
On the surface, many superhero films are dumb. It’s the relative degree of dumb that takes a film like Iron-Man and lines like, “Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!” to amazing heights and a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And takes Venom lines like “You cannot just go around eating anybody you want to…” to a 29% rotten rating.
However, the thing is, people watch popcorn flicks over and over and over. Me included.
Netflix knows this, so on Thursday last, they purchased a whole lot of Sony streaming rights.
HollywoodReporter.com’s Mia Galuppo posted:
Morbius. Image: Sony
Unlike Disney, NBCUniversal, and ViacomCBS, Sony notably has not launched a direct-to-consumer streaming service to compete with Netflix. Instead, the studio is cementing its future in a major deal with Netflix.
Sony has inked a multiyear, exclusive first-pay-window licensing deal in the U.S. that will allow Netflix first-pay-window rights to Sony Pictures titles following their theatrical and home entertainment windows, the studio announced Thursday. (The typical pay-one window is 18 months.) Since 2006, Sony’s pay-TV partner has been Lionsgate-owned Starz…
With the pact, Netflix will have access to a new pipeline of first-run film offerings, including a steady supply of Marvel content, which has been out of reach for the streaming service since the launch of Disney+. Per deal terms, these will include future installments of Spider-Man and Venom.
Into the Spider-Verse. Image: Sony.
However, I need not re-up my Netflix account any time soon.
THR reported 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home are NOT included in the pact. However, the Sony 2022 docket, which includes Marvel’s Morbius and the Spider-Verse sequel, are on the slate.
Meanwhile, FastCompany.com pointed out:
Morbius. Image: Sony.
The move signifies how hungry Netflix is for big, splashy movie titles—Marvel movies, specifically—that will help it compete with a growing number of rivals, which have direct access to tentpole properties.
But for now, my Venom fix comes from iTunes. Where, any time, I can catch up with quotes like:
Venom: Outstanding. Now let’s bite off all their heads off and pile them up in the corner.
Eddie: Why would we do that?
Venom: Pile of bodies, pile of heads.
