Wakanda Forever will not be streaming on Disney Plus for weeks. Disney as of yet has not confirmed just exactly when the sequel of Black Panther will be streaming but due to the past timelines of Marvel, you can easily make an educated guess on the matter.
Wakanda Forever Will Not Be Streaming On Disney Plus For Weeks
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on Friday arrived in theaters on a backend of positive reviews and fan anticipation thus helping to a very strong showing at the box office. But with that, the timing as to when it will start to stream on Disney plus is still very much up in the air.
It seemed for a while that Disney and other big Hollywood movie studios might be slumping into a new post-Covid rhythm for the timeframe on how they kept movies in theaters just before streaming them, and then the blockbuster season happened and everything again became guesswork.
The Length of Its Movies Theatrical Exclusives Varies For Disney Specifically
The length of its movie’s theatrical exclusives depends for Disney specifically. Encanto as you remember spent one full month in theaters before it started to stream. For Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, it was much longer than two months, West Side Story which is Steven Spielberg’s reimagining of the famous musical spent about three months before it started to stream.
It’s however reasonable to estimate that Wakanda Forever will likely begin to stream sometime between late December and mid-to-even late January. And to make an educated guess for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it is helpful to take a look at the timeline for other Marvel movies once Disney revived its practice of theatrical exclusives.
Other Theatrical Releases of Marvel and Time Spent Outside Disney Plus This Year
This year, Marvel has theatrically released Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of madness in May and Thor: Love and Thunder in July. And although Doctor Strange took 47 days to find its way to Disney plus, Thor: Love and Thunder on the other hand which is its most recent marvel movie, took 62 days after its theatrical release to hit Disney plus. In terms of length, it is closer to Marvel’s theatrical exclusives in the previous year: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was in theaters for 70 days, and Eternals on the other hand, for 68 days.
And if Black Panther: Wakanda Forever were to in any way match the 47-day timeline of Doctor Strange, it would be on Disney Plus on December 28, tucked into the week just after Christmas but before new year’s day. Every single year, that week is a viral time for streaming and it is often the time Netflix racks up some of the biggest hits of all time.
What Will Happen To Black Panther If Disney Follows Its Normal Timeline
But if however, Disney opts for Black Panther’s theatrical exclusive to be closer in regards to length to that of other marvel movies, then Black Panther will not become available to stream until mid-to-late January, or even possibly much later.
The timing decisions of Disney for black panther and other upcoming movies such as the new Avatar movie and the next Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant man movies and many more, we are going to be hinging on just how much the company wants to generate box office revenue versus how much it wants to get in new streaming subscribers and also retain the existing ones.
Big Hollywood Companies Lately Are Not Prioritizing the Growth of Streaming Subscribers
Big Hollywood companies such as Disney lately are not prioritizing the growth of streaming subscribers nearly as much as they previously did.
Paramount, for instance, released Top Top Gun: maverick more than 160 days ago which is now approaching six months now and it still will not drop a date as to when the movie will begin to stream. That very strategy raked in a lot of revenue at the box office, although the Top Gun sequel has grossed nearly $1.5 billion to become the global number 1 theatrical release so far this year.
When it comes to getting movies much more quickly into Disney Plus, Disney has been much more aggressive, but so far, Disney has not yet even hinted at the timeframe as to when Wakanda Forever will stream.
