Editor's note: Eager to watch Spider-Man: No Way Home online, or re-watch it? Well, we've got good news for you about its digital release.
Wish you could stream Spider-Man: No Way Home on Disney Plus, and not have to go to a theater? We could tell you that you're not alone (some of the TG staff agrees), but that does nobody any good. What's more important is setting expectations for when it will hit.
The wait for getting Spider-Man No Way Home on Disney Plus will likely be longer than any of the Marvel movies released recently. In fact, we're not even sure when the film is coming to Disney Plus. Our best guess is sometime in the middle of 2023 at the earliest — and possibly longer. Terrible, I know, but there's also good news about another big service it could arrive on much earlier. And there are two reasons behind all of this.
First and foremost is because No Way Home is coming from Sony Pictures, which produced Spider-Man: No Way Home in collaboration with Marvel Studios. This is why we're not going to get it arriving two months after its theatrical release as Shang-Chi and Eternals did. Oh, and forget about Disney Plus Premier Access, the way Disney released movies on Disney Plus the same day that they hit theaters. That program seems to be on hold.
But while you wait to find out, check out our story on the Spider-Man: No Way Home secrets spilled by director Jon Watts.
Disney Plus may get Spider-Man No Way Home after Netflix
The shared-ownership is the biggest holdup, and it's the reason why we're unsure of when No Way Home will go to Disney Plus. Heck, the two previous Sony Spider-Man MCU movies aren't on Disney Plus either — Homecoming is streaming for Spectrum members and Far From Home is VOD only. So we'd normally say you shouldn't hold your breath. But Sony and Disney Plus (and Netflix too) are actually starting to work together.
The second big complication is that Sony has not one, but two, streaming deals in place (neither applies to Spider-Man: No Way Home, though). Sony movies released between 2022 and 2027 will first stream on Netflix after their time in theaters (often 45 days) and video on-demand (buy or rent) services.
If we assume No Way Home could follow the format of that deal, this is how we get the mid-2023 window. Netflix will have Sony's movies for what's known as the Pay 1 window — an 18 month period of time after their theatrical run.
Then, those movies come to Disney Plus, thanks to a deal Sony and Disney made in April. However, this, again, doesn't exactly apply to Spider-Man: No Way Home, a 2021 release. Which means there's one more streaming platform to consider.
Spider-Man: No Way Home will go to Starz first
The tale of the contractual tape shows that Sony's movies have gone to the premium cable service Starz first. This is based on a deal that has been around for years, with its most recent window being from 2017 to 2021. If Sony is held to that deal, which seems as likely as anything, we wouldn't be surprised to need a Starz subscription to stream No Way Home without buying it on demand.
Why did the Sony/Starz deal end? Starz CEO Jeffrey Hirsch reportedly told the MoffettNathanon 8th Annual Media and Communications Summit that the deal wasn't compelling enough, as Sony's hits were too few and far between.
Either way, while you wait to see the film, we've got every Spider-Man movie ranked — including No Way Home — and if you're down for a spoiler alert? We've broken down the Spider-Man: No Way Home post-credits scenes.
