In less than two weeks, Black Panther (and Killmonger, and Shuri, and M’Baku, and Nakia, and Okoye, and Forest Whitaker’s Zuri accent) will be available on Netflix, permanently killing any hope you had of finishing your Netflix queue.
The beloved Marvel movie’s arrival to the streaming platform was officially announced on the Twitter account, “Strong Black Lead” Tuesday morning. The arrival date is slated for September 4: the Tuesday after Labor Day weekend and Beyoncé’s birthday.
Coincidence? It can’t Bey.
But while Wakanda is forever, licensing deals are not. The global blockbuster will also be among the last Disney/Marvel films to make it onto the streaming platform. As the New York Times reported earlier this month, Disney, revving up to launch its own branded streaming service, will let its licensing deal with Netflix expire. “Starting with ‘Captain Marvel’ in March, all of the films that Walt Disney Studios releases in theaters will subsequently flow to the Disney streaming platform instead of to Netflix,” writes the Times.
This means all subsequent Black Panther sequels or spin-offs may require viewers to either download a digital copy of the film, or hop on the new Disney streaming service.
We’ll cross that vibranium bridge when we get there.