Disney

Disney Follow Follow Once the public face of squeaky-clean, harmless family entertainment, the Walt Disney Corporation has evolved into a widespread conglomerate known as much for the properties it controls as the films it produces. With subsidiaries including Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, National Geographic, A&E, 20th Century Fox, ESPN, Hulu, and Pixar, Disney has a commanding control of some of the world’s most lucrative franchises, plus an extensive library of film and TV classics. Its streaming service Disney+ signals a new interest in controlling its own online distribution, setting aside decades of licensing partnerships. Follow along with The Verge as we look at Disney’s new films and shows, and its strategies for dominating the box office and the streaming dollar. J External Link Jay Peters Feb 14 Link Disney accuses Bytedance’s new AI video model of infringing on its characters. In a cease and desist letter, Disney includes examples of the new Seedance 2.0 model making videos featuring characters like Spider-Man and Darth Vader, according to Axios . “ByteDance is hijacking Disney’s characters by reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring those characters,” Disney’s attorney said. Scoop: Disney sends cease and desist letter to ByteDance over Seedance 2.0 [ Axios ] D External Link Dominic Preston Feb 9 Link Disney loses Dolby in Europe. Disney Plus subscribers in a few European countries have spotted that Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and 3D content have disappeared from the service. A Disney statement blames it on “technical challenges,” but FlatpanelsHD points out it may be linked to a patent dispute in Germany . Disney+ loses Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and 3D amid patent dispute [ FlatpanelsHD ] R Youtube Richard Lawler Feb 8 Link Pixar previews Hoppers. Just before kickoff, Disney and Pixar p reviewed their next CG family flick , Hoppers . As we’ve heard and seen in a teaser trailer , this one follows a world where people put their minds into 3D-printed versions of animals to try and live among them. It’s coming to theaters on March 6th, although the YouTube description mentions an early viewing window on February 28th. S External Link Stevie Bonifield Feb 5 Link Disney’s Eragon series is showing signs of life. Todd Harthan and Todd Helbing have joined the series as co-showrunners and executive producers, along with Marc Webb and Rachel Moore as executive producers, as Variety reports. Author Christopher Paolini will also be executive producing the adaptation of his YA fantasy series at Disney Plus, which is also home to the hit adaptation of Percy Jackson . ‘Eragon’ Disney+ Series Sets Todd Harthan, Todd Helbing as Co-Showrunners, Marc Webb Boards as Exec Producer [ Variety ] Disney says Josh D’Amaro will replace Bob Iger as CEO Emma Roth Feb 3 E Quote Emma Roth Feb 2 Link More about the Sora AI videos coming to Disney Plus. Disney’s deal with OpenAI includes a plan to allow Sora users to create 30-second clips featuring over 250 Disney characters while some will appear in curated vertical video feeds inside Disney Plus , CEO Bob Iger told investors on Monday. Iger said the feature could arrive “sometime in fiscal 2026,” adding the company hopes to allow Disney Plus subscribers to create them directly on its platform: What this deal does is by giving us the ability to curate what has been basically created by Sora onto Disney, is it jumpstarts our ability to have short form video on Disney Plus. J External Link Jay Peters Jan 31 Link Disney might have a new CEO sooner than expected. Current CEO Bob Iger has apparently said he plans to step down before the end of the year, and the company’s board of directors are set to vote next week on who should be his successor, The Wall Street Journal reports . The frontrunners are reportedly Josh D’Amaro and Dana Walden . Iger Has Told Associates He Plans to Leave CEO Role Before Contract Expires [ The Wall Street Journal ] C Youtube Charles Pulliam-Moore Jan 27 Link Jessica Jones has been born again. Disney Plus is teasing Jessica Jones’ return to the MCU in this new teaser trailer for Daredevil: Born Again ’s upcoming second season , and it looks like the detective is going to be knocking heads. C Youtube Charles Pulliam-Moore Jan 22 Link A Darth Maul redemption arc? While the new trailer for Disney Plus’ Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord series doesn’t at all make the Sith Lord look like a heroic figure , it does suggest that meeting his new apprentice is going to reveal new things about his character when the show premieres on April 6th. C Youtube Charles Pulliam-Moore Jan 21 Link Maul’s to the wall. Ahead of debuting a trailer for its new Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord animated series tomorrow, Disney Plus has shared a short (and inky) teaser that makes it seem like the Sith Lord’s lightsaber is going to be seeing plenty of action. Disney deleted a Thread because people kept putting anti-fascist quotes from its movies in the replies Terrence O'Brien Jan 17 Disney Plus is getting vertical video Jay Peters Jan 8 S Youtube Sean Hollister Jan 1 Link Is it bad that I want to watch Wonder Man more than the next major Marvel movie after a single trailer? Personally, I don’t have superhero movie fatigue . The powers aren’t the problem; I just think we need a little more comedy and a little less fate-of-the-world drama! This one is Wonder Man , an 8-episode miniseries coming January 27th to Disney Plus. It’s meta in more ways than one . The 10 best shows to stream on Disney Plus and Hulu from 2025 Emma Roth Dec 17, 2025 J External Link Jay Peters Dec 15, 2025 Link Disney Plus is now available on Meta Quest VR headsets. Meta had already announced the streaming service was coming to its headsets, but now it’s here . Disney+ Brings a Massive Catalog of Entertainment Content to Meta Quest Today in the US [ Meta ] Disney wants to drag you into the slop Disney Plus is about to become filled with uninspired garbage. Charles Pulliam-Moore Dec 11, 2025 Disney accuses Google of ‘massive’ copyright infringement following deal with OpenAI Emma Roth Dec 11, 2025 OpenAI’s billion-dollar Disney deal puts Mickey Mouse and Marvel in Sora Richard Lawler Dec 11, 2025 J External Link Jay Peters Dec 9, 2025 Link Apple’s former COO has been nominated to join Disney’s board. Jeff Williams, who recently retired from Apple , will stand for election “as a new independent director at the company’s 2026 annual meeting of shareholders,” Disney says . The board will be expanded to 11 members. Jeff Williams Nominated To The Walt Disney Company Board Of Directors - The Walt Disney Company [ The Walt Disney Company ] T Youtube Thomas Ricker Nov 24, 2025 Link Disney R&D. Alongside the unveiling of the very impressive self-walking Olaf character coming to Disney’s Frozen world attractions in Paris and Hong Kong next year, Disney takes us on a behind the scenes look at its research and development efforts, showing how reinforcement learning combined with simulation is dramatically accelerating robot development. You can grab a year of Disney Plus and Hulu for just $5 a month for Black Friday Brandon Russell Nov 24, 2025 Netflix signs a three-year deal to stream MLB live events and games Richard Lawler Nov 19, 2025 Disney loses bid to block Sling TV’s one-day cable passes Emma Roth Nov 19, 2025 D Quote Dominic Preston Nov 18, 2025 Link More Moana. Here’s a couple of facts for you, apropos of nothing: it has been less than a decade since Moana hit US theaters, and not even 12 months since Moana 2 followed it. And yet, here we are . sam flynn: The live-action remakes will continue until morale improves Get the day’s best comment and more in my free newsletter, The Verge Daily . C Youtube Charles Pulliam-Moore Nov 17, 2025 Link She is (the live-action) Moana. The concept of a live-action Moana adaptation feels pretty premature until you remember that the original animated movie came out almost a decade ago. The new movie hits theaters on July 10, 2026. YouTube TV, ESPN, and Disney: the latest on the blackout that’s now over Terrence O'Brien Feb 2 Disney and ESPN are back on YouTube TV Jay Peters Nov 15, 2025 The future of Disney Plus could involve AI-generated videos Emma Roth Nov 13, 2025 E Quote Emma Roth Nov 13, 2025 Link Disney is “trying really hard” to get ESPN back on YouTube TV. During an earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company isn’t “trying to break any new ground” on a deal that would end the ESPN blackout : The deal that we have proposed is equal to or better than what other large distributors have already agreed to... While we’ve been working tirelessly to close this deal and restore our channels to the platform, it’s also imperative that we make sure that we agree to a deal that reflects the value that we deliver. E External Link Emma Roth Nov 13, 2025 Link Disney Plus adds 1.5 million subs despite the Jimmy Kimmel drama. The streaming service grew to 59.3 million subscribers in the US and Canada just months after pausing production of Kimmel’s late-night talk show and announcing a price hike , according to its Q4 2025 earnings report . Disney also plans to make more changes to its streaming service soon, with a new “visually engaging homepage and greater personalization.” Disney+ Adds 3.8 Million Subscribers, Hulu Packs on 8.6 Million Amid Kimmel Controversy in September Quarter [ Variety ] D Dominic Preston Nov 13, 2025 Link Death Stranding on Disney. Hideo Kojima’s two games are getting an anime series, Death Stranding Isolations , on Disney Plus in 2027. Kojima will produce, with Takayuki Sano of E&H Production directing, and the announcement promises “a traditional, hand-drawn 2D animation style.” It’ll follow two new characters in the Death Stranding world, but that’s all we know. Isolations is only a working title, so it may change. Image: Kojima Productions E External Link Emma Roth Nov 12, 2025 Link Bob Iger and Sundar Pichai reportedly join the ESPN / YouTube TV dispute. The Athletic reports that Disney and Google’s CEOs have become “more involved” in the negotiations nearly two weeks after ESPN, ABC, and other Disney-owned channels went dark on YouTube TV. Sources tell the outlet that YouTube TV is still trying to determine how much it should pay for Disney’s non-sports networks like Freeform, FX, and National Geographic. YouTube TV, Disney find fresh momentum in talks to bring ESPN back: Sources [ The Athletic ] The first Toy Story 5 teaser threatens the toys with a tablet Jess Weatherbed Nov 12, 2025 Disney is losing over $4 million a day in revenue on the YouTube TV blackout Lauren Feiner Nov 11, 2025 J Twitter Jay Peters Nov 11, 2025 Link Disney CEO Bob Iger is going on the ManningCast, which airs on ESPN2. Ahead of one of the biggest games of the NFL season so far, I have a feeing there might be something he wants to talk about . He’ll be on the show at 8PM ET . T External Link Terrence O'Brien Nov 9, 2025 Link Google is issuing a $20 credit to YouTube TV subscribers. Now that the Disney blackout has dragged on for an “extended period of time,” Google will begin handing out the promised credits today. Customers should get an email explaining how to apply the one-time credit to their next bill. But, $20 probably won’t satisfy disgruntled customers who just want to watch SportsCenter. YouTube TV to Begin Issuing Customers $20 Credit for Disney Blackout on Sunday [ Variety ] R Quote Richard Lawler Nov 4, 2025 Link No Monday Night Football, no Election Night ABC News for YouTube TV. The standoff between Disney and YouTube started just before midnight on Thursday evening , and unlike the 36-hour tiff in 2021 , there’s no sign of an end yet. Disney said it asked Google to turn the networks on for 24 hours for election (and probably football) coverage, but YouTube declined . There are plenty of other options for customers - election news information is very widely available across other broadcast stations and news networks on YouTube TV, as well as on the main YouTube service, for free. In fact, on the last two U.S. election days, the vast majority of tuned in YouTube TV subscribers chose not to watch ABC. ESPN, ABC, and other Disney channels go dark on YouTube TV Jess Weatherbed Oct 31, 2025 J External Link John Higgins Oct 30, 2025 Link Disney Plus, plus HDR10 Plus, now on Samsung TVs. Disney is one of the last major streamers to support the open-source, royalty-free (and Samsung-backed) competitor to Dolby Vision. Its inclusion now gives people with Samsung TVs access to the dynamic HDR content that other TV owners have been getting from Dolby Vision. HDR10+ Supported Content on Disney+ Launches First on Samsung TVs [ Samsung ] E External Link Emma Roth Oct 29, 2025 Link Fubo and Hulu + Live TV have officially completed their merger. Fubo and Hulu + Live will remain separate, meaning you can still watch Hulu + Live TV from the Hulu app, while Fubo’s content will stay on its own streaming service. Under the new structure, Hulu’s parent company, Disney, owns 70 percent of the combined businesses . Fubo, Disney’s Hulu + Live TV Complete Business Combination, Creating Unique Consumer Focused vMVPD [ Fubo ] Most Popular Most Popular Apple’s doing something on March 4th Why are Epstein’s emails full of equals signs? OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger is joining OpenAI The Pocket Taco is the best way to turn your phone into a Game Boy Anker’s USB-C cable that lets you charge two gadgets at once is 20 percent off Advertiser Content From This is the title for the native ad