Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are soon going to be able to see even more of the Avengers assembling on Disney Plus.
Starting this Friday (Nov. 12), Disney Plus subscribers will be able to stream 13 Marvel movies in Imax‘s Expanded Aspect Ratio — which offers up to 26% more screen picture compared with conventional widescreen format. Disney Plus is the first major streaming service to provide the Imax Enhanced features for at-home viewing (although of course without Imax’s gargantuan screens).
The 13 titles available in the Imax-enhanced format include the Disney Plus premiere of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings.” on Nov. 12. The others are “Iron Man,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Doctor Strange,” “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Black Panther,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” “Captain Marvel,” “Avengers: Endgame” and “Black Widow.” (According to Disney, the availability of some titles will vary by market.)
The launch of Imax Enhanced on Disney Plus is timed for the Mouse House’s weeklong Disney Plus Day event, marking the two-year anniversary of the streaming service’s original launch. Among the promos: Disney Plus is available for $1.99 for the first month to new and returning subscribers who sign up through Sunday.
Imax’s Expanded Aspect Ratio is 1.90:1, which means that during certain scenes “more of the action is visible on screen, just as the filmmakers intended,” the company said. Imax provided a graphic showing the expanded picture as it will appear on Disney Plus (with the portions above and below the blue lines representing the Imax enhancement):
In the future, the companies said, Disney Plus’ collaboration with Imax provided additional audio and visual enhancements, including immersive Imax signature sound by DTS.
“Disney, Marvel Studios, and Imax have collaborated for years to bring the world’s most popular films to the big screen, and on Friday we’ll start to bring Imax technology to subscribers with Imax Enhanced viewing in the Disney plus app,” Michael Paull, president of Disney Plus and ESPN Plus, said in a statement.
Since Imax and Marvel Studios first partnered in 2010, the superhero movies have generated more than $1.6 billion across Imax screens globally — making the MCU the highest-grossing franchise in Imax history.
“For more than a decade, Imax has helped filmmakers take fans across the Marvel Cinematic Universe in theaters and now that epic journey crosses into a new world: the home,” Imax CEO Rich Gelfond said in a statement.
Disney is scheduled to report earnings for its fiscal Q4 2021 quarter on Wednesday, Nov. 10. CEO Bob Chapek previously said Disney Plus subscriber growth will slow down in the September quarter. As of July 3, the streamer had 116 million subscribers worldwide, about 40% of which were Disney Plus Hotstar subscribers in India, Indonesia and Malaysia.
