Parents Group Says Netflix/Marvel Shows Coming To Disney+ Will “Forever Tarnish” The Company

When it was announced that Disney+ would be the official streamer of the entire Disney catalog, most people assumed the platform would stay family-friendly, with the company’s sister streamer, Hulu, getting the more adult fare. But with the addition of the Marvel TV shows from Netflix, most of which push the limits of TV-MA and border on R-rated content, it appears Disney+ is getting more mature. And that isn’t sitting right with one organization. 

In a new letter sent from the president of the Parents Television and Media Council, the group slams Disney’s decision to release mature content on the “family-friendly” platform. In fact, the organization thinks it’s such a slippery slope, we could possibly see stripteases at Disney World. (Which, let’s be real, would liven the place up a bit, right?)

READ MORE: Charlie Cox Trusts Marvel Studios But Doesn’t Think ‘Daredevil’ Will “Work As Well In A PG World”

“For more than 98 years, the Walt Disney Company has been synonymous with the words Family Friendly, and I can think of no other corporation in American history that has been built more squarely on the backs – and on the wallets – of parents and families,” said Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television and Media Council. “The company’s eponymous platform Disney+ logically marketed itself as a family-friendly streaming service, and parents have placed their trust in Disney to deliver just that. It seems wildly ‘off-brand’ for Disney+ to add TV-MA and R-rated programming to this platform, ostensibly to increase subscription revenue. So what comes next, adding live striptease performances in Fantasyland at Disney World?” 

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As mentioned, recently it was announced that Disney would be adding the Marvel series, “Daredevil,” “Luke Cage,” “The Punisher,” “Jessica Jones,” “Iron Fist,” and “The Defenders,” to Disney+ at the end of March. This is accompanied by new parental controls which would allow for people to stop children from watching the series. But the truth is, these shows are way more violent and adult than what is seen in the typical MCU film or TV series, so you can understand people being a little uneasy. That said, is there really a huge difference between what happens in “Daredevil” and watching Thor decapitate Thanos at the beginning of “Avengers: Endgame?” 

“While we applaud Disney+ for improving their parental controls, the mere presence of MA- and R-rated content violates the trust of families, and may well turn them off entirely,” Winter added. “There is no need for Disney+ to compete with the explicit content on other streaming platforms. Disney is already at a competitive advantage with a streaming platform that is the safest one out there for families. Its foray into TV-MA-rated fare will forever tarnish its family friendly crown.”

Obviously, this is sorta ridiculous and won’t have any effect on what Disney does or doesn’t do in the future. But it will be interesting to see how Disney+ takes advantage of parental controls in the future. Will something truly R-rated like “Deadpool” make an appearance on Disney+ in the future? We’ll have to wait and see. Maybe when we see men and women dancing around in g-strings at Disney World.