Disney recently announced that it will bring several of Sony's Marvel movies to Disney+ in April and May 2022. This decision was made following a content licensing agreement between the two companies. As a result of this deal, several Spider-Man titles, which were previously unavailable on Disney+, will now be licensed to the platform. While the deal does not include the rights to new Spider-Man films immediately after their theatrical release, subscribers to Disney+ will still have access to a set of older Spider-Man movies that continue to be popular with American audiences.
According to demand data from Parrot Analytics, two Spider-Man titles were among the top 10 most in-demand superhero movies in 2023. Spider-Man: No Way Home, released in 2021, was the second most in-demand movie, with demand more than 50 times higher than the average movie during that period. The other title, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, continues to have exceptional demand almost five years after its release.
The popularity of the Spider-Man IP cannot be overstated. Looking at the combined demand for Spider-Man movies over the past five years, including the older titles from Tobey Maguire's trilogy, those starring Andrew Garfield, as well as the more recent ones with Tom Holland, we find that Spider-Man is the second most in-demand superhero IP in the US market, closely following the top IP, Avengers, and with demand 45% higher than the Batman IP.
The licensing deal is another step in Disney's efforts to retain Disney+ subscribers by adding more titles from the MCU, which are connected to the many franchise movies already available on the platform, thereby keeping fans engaged and eagerly anticipating the next installment of the franchise.
