With all the news of Disney+, there is one thing keeping it from being the killer app that I’ve long predicted — comics. Though it offers much more streaming content than DC Universe for the same price, what WarnerMedia (for now) has that Disney doesn’t is a merging of their movies, TV, and comics. Granted, they’re still working out a lot of bugs with their less in demand titles, but it’s one central app.
Without fanfare, Disney just took one small step in that direction this week. If you have an account with Marvel.com or subscribe to Marvel Unlimited, which allows for online reading of tens of thousands of back catalog comics, it’s just been changed. On Monday, you’ll no longer have an account name; it will be just your registered email, and it’s now part of the Walt Disney Company log-in system.
One email, one password, one log-in across all Disney accounts: Marvel, Disney, ESPN, ABC, and, presumably eventually, Disney+.
It could just be administrative smoothing, but it could also be a step toward combining it all into one app that offers:
- Marvel comics (including Star Wars)
- Disney comics (when they figure out the historic goldmine they have there)
- Disney, Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios movies and television
- Online store (which DC Universe does also offer)
- Rewards membership
- Theme Park and Resort planning and purchases
- Hotel reservations
THAT is a killer app.
