Disney+ Updates Parental Controls After Adding More Mature Content
By Movieguide® Contributor
Disney+ will add DAREDEVIL, THE PUNISHER, and AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. now that their time on Netflix has come to an end.
Netflix, who owned the rights to characters like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and the Punisher, previously found success with their dark takes on the comic book characters.
The shows will drop on Disney+ on March 16.
However, their ownership ended March 1, and Disney now has the rights to the shows and the characters. They’re already incorporating the characters in Marvel properties; DAREDEVIL star Charlie Cox had a small role as Matt Murdock in SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME.
Even though fans are excited about the shows getting added to the streaming service, others are concerned with Disney’s plan for updated parental controls given that these series contain mature content such as extreme language and violence.
In the same press release announcing the acquisition of the Netflix Marvel properties, Disney stated:
When opening Disney+ for the first time on or after March 16, all subscribers in the U.S. will be prompted to update their Parental Controls. This includes the option to select content ratings restrictions for each profile as well as to add a PIN to lock profiles. Those that choose to keep their settings the same will continue to enjoy Disney+ as they always have within a TV-14 content rating environment, with the option to make changes at any time under Profile settings.
Movieguide® has previously reported on Disney’s decision to edit inappropriate and racial content from some of the content they offered, but they’ve also been trying to compete with larger streaming services. This competition has led to the company adding more adult content in an effort to draw in more viewers.
Movieguide® wrote:
Following Netflix’s global appeal model, Disney seeks to boost its worldwide presence and compete directly through Star.
“Like a supercharged Netflix, they are following the same global strategy but are rolling it out at a much faster speed,” Guy Bisson of U.K.-based Ampere Analysis said. “Netflix already has all its subscriber growth — and 62 percent of its commissioned originals — coming from outside the U.S.”
Disney’s goal is clear: provide content that will appeal to a larger audience. The streaming service is projected to surpass Netflix’s subscriber count by 2026.
Although Disney+ has not released the content geared toward adults in the U.S. for fear of marring their family-friendly brand, according to Jan Koeppen—president of Disney in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa—adults want choice.
“They all said, ‘We love choice.’ And the adults among them had a term that they often used: ‘We would love to have even more choice’ for what they call ‘me time,’ the time when the kids have gone to bed,” Koeppen said of a recent survey.
Movieguide® hopes that Disney continues to include moral and uplifting themes in their adult content and does not compromise for the sake of popularity.
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