The launch date for Disney+ UK draws ever nearer and our wait for access to the streaming platform is very nearly over. Whilst countries including the United Sates, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands got their hands on Disney+ back in 2019, the rest of Europe has sat patiently waiting for the upcoming launch date, the 24th March 2020, to jump on the Disney bandwagon. It's been a long wait defined by the surprisingly difficult task of avoiding any 'The Mandalorian' spoilers being bandied about on social media sites. An air of mystery still hangs around this 'Star Wars' series in particular given that the official Twitter account for Disney+ UK recently tweeted that the episodes "will start to roll out from March 24th", leaving it unclear as to whether episodes will drop weekly for newcomers to the platform despite the fact that the entirety of the first series has already been made available to those first countries to enjoy Disney+. The platform has remained tight lipped as to whether episodes from shows such as 'The Mandalorian' and 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series' will air each week as opposed to being released as a collective batch. All that's known for certain at this stage is that the first episode will drop on the official UK release date.
#TheMandalorian episodes will start to roll out from March 24th. @StarWarsUK pic.twitter.com/jY6gA2gFPv
? Disney+ UK (@DisneyPlusUK) February 17, 2020
The first season of 'The Mandalorian' aired in its entirely in the countries with access to Disney+ over a month ago and has already sparked enough enthusiasm to open an official store, produce merchandise and lead us all to become obsessed with the phenomenon that is Baby Yoda despite not really knowing who this earlier iteration of the character is nor what purpose they will play. With the exception of certain products (the Baby Yoda cuddly toy sold out within hours of its launch), mainstream merchandising for the series will go on sale from the month of May, by which time we would have been able to see just what this unfairly adorable Yoda gets up to over the show's eight episodes.
You Release or You Do Not, There Is No Try
Perhaps the platform is trying to recapture the magic of the series, that initial shock of the phenomenon when 'The Mandalorian' first hit screens in the US, though it seems somewhat pointless to attempt to repeat the trick when spoilers are a mere click away. In fact, many fans of the galaxy far, far away have already illegal downloaded the series just so they can open Twitter without fear of a spoiler-saturated gif. So many people have illegally watched the show that 'The Mandalorian' is not longer thought to be one of the priorities for people signing up to the platform, with many considering subscribing for the opportunity to watch other series such as 'The Falcon and The Winter Soldier', which is slated to launch in August 2020.
For now, we know that barely a month stands between us and binge-watching Disney classics whilst simultaneously fawning over Baby Yoda. However, when it comes to the Marvel series, fans are less certain whether the UK will have access to the adventures of Bucky and Sam anytime soon. In the official Twitter thread led by Disney+ UK, the platform responded to the question of whether content would be in line with the US with the answer: "We plan to premiere lots of content at the same time as our friends in the US. However there will be some variation in content between countries". A gif of Bucky and Sam accompanied this cryptic answer.
We plan to premiere lots of content at the same time as our friends in the US. However there will be some variation in content between countries. pic.twitter.com/pHKmGgH4le
? Disney+ UK (@DisneyPlusUK) February 17, 2020
Currently, it's uncertain as to whether the release of such media will be completely random or whether Disney+ will soon fall into a pattern of releasing certain content in some countries before others. These "variations in content" are unfortunately unlikely to be clarified before the official launch date of Disney+UK. What we now know for certain, however, is that Disney+ will be available in the UK for £5.99 per month or for a discounted rate of £59.99 a year.
