Disney+ Retools Parental Controls With Addition of Netflix Marvel Programs

Daredevil and its fellow Netflix shows have a new home: Disney+. And with those additions, the streamer is retooling parental controls due to the Marvel series’ dark themes and graphic violence, especially The Punisher.

Disney announced on Tuesday that Daredevil, the Charlie Cox-led Marvel series, in addition to Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, The Punisher, Iron Fist, The Defenders and ABC’s Agents of SHIELD will land on the streamer after leaving their original Netflix home March 1. All the shows will be available March 16 on Disney+.

With the addition of the series, Disney+ users will be prompted to update their parental controls. The Netflix Marvel series will be the most mature content on the streamer in the U.S. thus far. On Netflix, Daredevil and Punisher had TV-MA ratings, meaning they were not suitable for viewers under the age of 17. The parental controls are already in effect in Europe and include the option to add content restrictions for each profile, as well as a PIN to lock profiles. Last month, Disney began adding more adult-skewing fare, but nothing as violent as Punisher.

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Disney licensed its Marvel shows to Netflix as part of a 2013 pact, with its first two series, Daredevil and Jessica Jones, launching in 2015. By early 2019, the streaming service had canceled all of those series as Disney prepared to launch its competitor, Disney+.

The shows left Netflix Tuesday after Disney opted to forgo a hefty licensing fee from the streaming competitor and instead regain the rights. (Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said in an earnings call in early February that the company expects to lose out on $200 million in licensing income as it regains the rights to various series.)

Daredevil in particular has experienced a resurgence in interest, following star Cox’s cameo appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Vincent D’Onofrio, who played the villain Wilson Fisk, appearing on the Disney+ series Hawkeye.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cox teased that he knew “a bit” about what was in store for his character down the road in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Matt Murdock returned for No Way Home.

Moving the Netflix programs signals a huge move for the Disney+ platform given the series’ mature content, which has not been available through the streamer, at least in the U.S.