The recent Disney+ price increases present a new challenge for the MCU that may be especially pressing given the franchise’s release schedule. The MCU timeline existed for many years without ties to Disney+, but the unveiling of the streaming platform certainly can be seen to have coincided with the MCU expanding in a major way, thanks to the television shows that subsequently released on it.
While there’s a lot of other movies and shows on Disney+, a huge draw for the platform is the fact it holds most of the MCU’s release roster on it. With that said, the reaction to the newest price changes for Disney+ set up a challenge for the franchise to face going forward into 2026.
The New Disney+ Price Changes Present A Fresh Challenge For The MCU
Black Widow, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man, and Hulk in the Battle of New York in The Avengers
Disney Plus’ latest price increase arrived in October 2025 for US and UK users, with these increases being rolled out in Canada in November, and for Australian users in 2026. These price increases moved most plans up by around $2-3 dollars monthly for US users, with the corresponding adjustments to yearly subscriptions gaining the most attention, since the compounded monthly increase comes to customers spending an extra $30 dollar a year for the annual US package.
While this isn’t the first increase in the price of Disney+, the larger cost of being subscribed to the streaming platform has received some criticism, as the consistent increase in the cost of having streaming subscriptions has been the subject of some considerable discussion online in recent months. This has perhaps been most notable for MCU fans, given the increase comes right as the franchise experiences a gap in its release schedule.
The MCU is currently set to have no releases from after September 2025 up until January 2026, and no movie releases seemingly set to hit streaming for at least a year if not considerably longer, given Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the MCU’s next film release in July, and the Spider-Man movies historically haven’t released on Disney+ itself. As such, the MCU may have more of a challenge here in terms of keeping fans invested in Disney+ for at least the time being.
The MCU’s Next Chapters Could Be Exactly What The Franchise Needs To Handle Its New Challenge
Tom Holland as Peter Parker fighting Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home
Currently, with few new installments to reiterate to MCU fans why they are paying for the streaming platform, it seems this price increase could perhaps be received more negatively by this demographic, especially in an era wherein the MCU’s recent releases have seen some more divided results. However, 2026 could provide a solution of sorts, at least in terms of helping reignite fan investment in the MCU.
While there’s a considerable wait before the MCU’s next movie, said movie being Spider-Man: Brand New Day does bode well for the franchise, since the Spider-Man series has been consistently critically praised, and has fared massively well financially. Though 2026’s second MCU movie – Avengers: Doomsday – presents more risks for the franchise, the film bringing the Avengers back to the forefront will no doubt pay off exponentially if it resonates with audiences.
With this in mind, it will be interesting to see how the next MCU movies fare next to their predecessors, how this may change perceptions of the franchise for better or for worse, and how all of this may influence things like how many MCU fans maintain Disney+ subscriptions after the recent price increase, as the future looks as though it could unfold in several different ways.