Thor: Love and Thunder Could Debut on Disney Plus Next Week 

Disney has not yet set a streaming release date for its latest Marvel film, but recent trends may make it easy to predict.

Thor: Love and Thunder will be released in theaters on July 8. However, with mixed reviews (“disappointingly shallow,” according to one CNET reviewer), you may have to wait until the film leaves theaters and moves to Disney Plus.

Disney’s theatrical release streaming strategy has been all over the place. Encanto was in theaters for a month before it was released on Netflix. It took two months for Marvel’s Eternals. West Side Story, Steven Spielberg’s reimagining of the musical, debuted on Disney Plus about three months after it premiered exclusively in theaters.

For the time being, it’s anyone’s guess how long Thor will take to stream, but a pattern has emerged that may make it easy to predict.

When will Thor: Love and Thunder be available on Disney Plus?

Thor: Love and Thunder’s streaming release date has yet to be confirmed by Disney. However, Lightyear’s streaming release date has made it a safe bet that Thor will begin streaming on Disney Plus on August 24.

During the pandemic, Disney allowed many movies to be streamed on Disney Plus the same day they were released in theaters. However, for more than a year, Disney has given its live-action theatrical releases extended periods of exclusivity in theaters before making streaming available. Unfortunately, Disney has not yet established a standard length for these theatrical exclusives.
However, it appears that the company has decided to give its theatrical films 47 days in theaters before streaming them on Disney Plus.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Eternals, spent 47 days in theaters prior to actually hitting Disney Plus. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was available to stream 47 days after its wide release in theaters—that’s two weeks faster than Eternals and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Recently, Pixar’s Lightyear debuted on Disney Plus on August 3 – 47 days after its theatrical release.

As a result, Thor: Love and Thunder will be released on August 24.

Disney appears to be adopting this 47-day window, bringing it closer to the norms of other big studios that have primarily gravitated toward theatrical exclusivity that will last about 45 days. The good news seems to be that this alleged “window” of time is shorter than when Disney first reintroduced theatrical exclusives last year.