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UPDATE: It's official. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is coming to Disney Plus on February 1, 2023, to kick off Black History Month. The original version of this article follows.
I want to watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on Disney Plus right now. but it looks like we’ll have to be patient. If you're like me, you're wondering when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever releases on Disney Plus. And we got a little more news as to when it's coming.
Now that the movie is in theaters (which will remove it from our list of the upcoming Marvel movies), and our Black Panther: Wakanda Forever review is out, the next question becomes when the heck Black Panther is out on streaming.
As reported by Box Office Mojo Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s domestic gross has been very impressive at $431.5 million. That beats Captain Marvel with its $426.8 million and Wonder Woman ($412.8 million).
Disney Plus' 2023 preview view confirmed our hunch that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will arrive on the later side of the below scale. Before that, Disney announced that Strange World is coming to Disney Plus on Dec. 23, and it feels like a Wakanda Forever streaming date would have been given by now were it to arrive by New Years.
Fortunately, we've got a bunch of data points about when past Marvel Studios movies have come out on Disney Plus, to extrapolate from.
The theater-to-streaming wait window has typically been 45 days for most studios, and The Batman on HBO Max was one of those films that got the tight 45-day window.
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For Disney (which Marvel Studios is under the umbrella of), the 45-day window also applies, and first came to conversation when Disney CEO Bob Chapek famously announced that that Shang-Chi would have a 45-day theatrical exclusivity window. He dubbed this "an interesting experiment." That phrase set a fire under some, including star Simu Liu, who tweeted "We are not an experiment. We are the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers. We are the celebration of culture and joy that will persevere after an embattled year. We are the surprise. I’m fired the f**k up to make history. " But Marvel didn't stick to that script, as Shang-Chi took 70 days to get there.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, however, had a 47-day wait for its Disney Plus release, arriving on Wednesday, June 22, 2022.
But since Disney Plus has a pattern of releasing big-name films and movies in the latter half of the week, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's date isn't exactly guaranteed. So, we're thinking Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on Sunday, January 1, 2023 — New Year's Day — sounds very possible, especially now that the movie was included in the aforementioned Disney Plus 2023 preview.
That said, we could be waiting a bit longer. But we still expect Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to hit Disney Plus in January 2023, and not a month later.
Thor: Love and Thunder (60 days), Eternals (68 days) and Shang-Chi (70 days) all took additional weeks to arrive on Disney Plus. Mid-January, though, doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Except when you think about how Disney Plus doesn't have a whole lot planned for January 2023.
And considering how Black Panther: Wakanda Forever feels like just as big, if not bigger, a movie than those three, we wouldn't be surprised to see Disney make us wait while the theatrical release stays profitable.
So, going by Shang-Chi's release, we're going to say that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's latest likely Disney Plus release date is Friday, January 20, 2023.
Those with calendars open on their devices see that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's Disney Plus release date window stretches across four whole weeks.
That's not ideal, but we don't expect to hear about Wakanda Forever's Disney Plus date in the near future. Doing so could cannibalize ticket sales, so don't look for an official word from Disney or Marvel Studios in the near future.
Disney may be looking to release the movie in a timely way to keep good will. A Disney Plus price hike is coming, as ad-free Disney Plus will cost $10.99 per month starting on Dec. 8. An ad-supported Disney Plus Basic will keep the current $7.99 pricing.
