Willow Will Probably Find A Home But Streaming Originals Are Still In Danger

When Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav unceremoniously killed the Batgirl movie in favor of a tax break, he set an intimidating precedent for fans across the media landscape. If a movie about a member of the Bat Family could get indefinitely shelved, couldn’t any story that media executives saw as expendable be on the chopping block next? While the answer to that question is an unfortunate and resounding “yes,” that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s time to panic over the Disney+ news so far as it applies to Willow and some of the other larger titles that are being pulled from the streamer — and the situation isn’t about tax breaks (can’t get those for stories you’ve already released). 

In short, Willow and other series of its size and ilk are very likely to get licensed out elsewhere, but that doesn’t mean that others are safe and that there isn’t very legitimate cause for concern. Let’s take a look at where we’re at now and what the future may hold for streaming originals.

Streaming is currently at a crossroads. The Streaming Wars were never something that I personally put much stock in — there’s plenty of incredible stories to go around — but the pandemic and, very specifically, quarantine changed all that. Suddenly it wasn’t just the Big 5 (Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, Hulu and Disney+), or middle ground players like HBO Max and Apple TV+ anymore. Discovery+, Paramount+ and the Peacocks of the world practically popped up overnight; AMC+ joined the fray while keeping Shudder its own niche entity alongside other channels with long-running, standalone streaming platforms like Starz and Showtime. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie! And, while we were all trapped inside, that pie was pretty big! 

But what goes up must come down. Now that we can play outside again, unlimited subscriber growth and endless streaming hours are a thing of the past. Wall Street and all their fake money is in a panic and, as expected, investors are too. Is unlimited subscriber growth a weird pipe dream that we (they) never should have bet on? Certainly. But tell that to the pretend numbers that control our current marketplace. 

I know that all that doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with any of this, and boy oh boy do I wish it didn’t. But it always comes down to the money, doesn’t it? 

What we’re seeing across these streaming platforms, whether it be the indefinite shelving of the Batgirl movie or HBO’s decision to cancel and then pull Westworld — what was once its flagship series — and sell it off to a FAST channel (free ad-supported streaming TV like Pluto, Tubi, etc.), or Disney’s move to pull Willow, The Mysterious Benedict Society, Little Demon, and more, is all about the all-mighty dollar. And that sucks! But, it also works in the favor of (some of the) folks worried about saying goodbye to their favorites forever.

I’m not much of a betting gal, but if I were I’d put a shiny penny on the idea that Disney gave us a window of warning on the departure of these programs for a reason. Streaming numbers for these properties didn’t hit the benchmarks they wanted them to, so they feel comfortable offboarding them. But they’ll also see an influx of panic streams as folks worry that they’ll never have another opportunity to see these stories again. Those base numbers plus a sharp increase at their impending departure sure make a nice shiny graph to show to potential buyers for the shows and movies they’re about to dump. Or, as Disney CFO Christine McCarthy said, “We are in the process of reviewing the content on our DTC services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation.” 

Now, we’ve already established that it all comes down to the all-mighty dollar, so Willow, Little Demon and some of their offboarded counterparts are all but certainly going to end up somewhere new, even if that doesn’t necessarily mean new seasons. Whether that ends up being a FAST channel like HBO Max’s Westworld and Raised By Wolves, or another streamer through a traditional licensing deal remains to be seen. But Disney’s not cramming these shows away into the vault never to be seen again. That’s for the media they know they can capitalize on down the road (or for the stuff they’re still really embarrassed about), and the media giant is on a mission to make money now — and the streaming residuals are too much of a pittance to make a dent in Disney’s pocketbook.

In short, don’t panic at this exact moment, because capitalism is going to win out here for the bigger players. But absolutely do panic about the current media landscape as a whole and what it means for your favorite stories in the future. A number of the series on Disney’s proverbial chopping block at the end of the month still have monetary value, so they’re likely to find new homes. But what about the stuff that doesn’t? Where will hidden gems like Stargirl go? What about the other tremendous stories on that list that not everyone has had a chance to see because of an endless deluge of content and poor user interfaces on streaming platforms? Because of server costs and streaming services’ general aversion to both advertising smaller players and putting their streaming originals on physical media, those stories could be lost forever, and that’s terrifying. 

Film and television history has survived up to this point because of incredible curation efforts across multiple groups of talented and devoted people who love their respective mediums. Right now, at this exact moment in the streaming era, we don’t have an answer for that in our digital age. Or at least a legal one. Just a few weeks ago, writer/director Mike Flanagan took to tumblr to encourage people to pirate his work if there was no other alternative to find it. He also cited an incredible piece from Vulture titled TV Has Always Disappeared, But This Feels Different. And both Flanagan and the piece are correct in their respective observations of the danger these stories are in, and the urgent need for a solution.

The fact of the matter is that this will become more and more common as streaming platforms who bet big during the quarantine era struggle to cut costs now that humanity has more options than staying home and streaming. Streaming brought with it a new wave of accessibility when it crashed onto the scene in the 2000s, but unless we do something quickly, a good hunk of the art it helped foster will disappear. Fans shouldn’t have to grind shows — sometimes on repeat — to boost viewership numbers in an attempt to appease a broken system and ensure the art that they love survives. But that’s the landscape we’re in.

How many creatives are going to see partnering with streamers as a viable option?

What we’re seeing now could be the beginning of the end of smaller streaming originals, which is a huge blow. Part of the appeal of streaming in the beginning was the idea that it would give creators more opportunities. But we’re already seeing those chances offered less and less. And, unless there’s a solution to their art simply disappearing into the ether, how many creatives are going to see partnering with streamers as a viable option? 

History is known for repeating itself, and the fact of the matter is that the primary solution to all of this is to go back to buying whatever you can on physical media (you don’t own any of your digital assets, after all; you merely license them). The viability of that option, and how long it will be available — especially as far as most streaming originals are concerned — is a different conversation, unfortunately. 

Amelia is the entertainment Streaming Editor here at IGN. She’s also a film and television critic who spends too much time talking about dinosaurs, superheroes, and folk horror. You can usually find her with her dog, Rogers. There may be cheeseburgers involved. Follow her across social @ThatWitchMia