Parents group objects to Daredevil coming to Disney+

Years ago, Disney allowed several Marvel TV shows to air on Netflix. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, The Punisher and The Defenders made their own little Marvel Television Universe, and fans were crushed when the shows started getting cancelled one after the other.

This was inevitable, of course. Back when those series began, Netflix was the only game in town when it came to at-home streaming. But the second Disney decided it was going to make its own streaming service with Disney+, it was only a matter of time before Daredevil and its sister shows came to an end; Disney wasn’t about to lend out Marvel characters to help get subscribers to Netflix.

Next week, the Marvel Netflix shows will officially debut on Disney+, but there’s an issue: you see, Daredevil deals with mature themes beyond anything Marvel Studios has dared touch. We’re talking naughty words, decently graphic violence and partial nudity. You would never see anything like this on WandaVision, Hawkeye, or anything else Disney has made completely in house.

And that is rubbing some folks the wrong way. Enter The Parents Television and Media Council, a self-proclaimed “non-profit, nonpartisan research and education organization advocating responsible entertainment.” They are none too pleased that Disney is exposing the children of the world to this sort of chicanery, as president Tim Winter set out in a statement:

"For more than 98 years, the Walt Disney Company has been synonymous with the words ‘family friendly,’ and I can think of no other corporation in American history that has been built more squarely on the backs — and on the wallets — of parents and families. The company’s eponymous platform Disney+ logically marketed itself as a family-friendly streaming service, and parents have placed their trust in Disney to deliver just that. It seems wildly ‘off-brand’ for Disney+ to add TV-MA and R-rated programming to this platform, ostensibly to increase subscription revenue. So what comes next, adding live striptease performances in Fantasyland at Disney World?"

Now, see, I was willing to kind of give him the benefit of the doubt until he got to the bit about about striptease performances at Fantasyland. Yes, Tim, Disney showing a Marvel TV show on its streaming platform that’s basically a Marvel TV show production machine will surely lead to strippers selling their wares on the corners of the Magical Kingdom. It’s hard to take someone seriously when they make that kind of reach.

Also, Disney+ will be implementing parental controls on the same day that Daredevil and its sister shows go live: March 16. “While we applaud Disney+ for improving their parental controls, the mere presence of MA and R-rated content violates the trust of families, and may well turn them off entirely,” Winter continued. “There is no need for Disney+ to compete with the explicit content on other streaming platforms. Disney is already at a competitive advantage with a streaming platform that is the safest one out there for families. Its foray into TV-MA-rated fare will forever tarnish its family friendly crown.”

Charlie Cox is prepared for a more “PG” version of Daredevil

It is kind of curious that Disney chose to put Daredevil and co. on Disney+ rather than Hulu, which is where it usually places its more mature content. But I can also understand why they’d want all their Marvel stuff in one place.

By the sound of it, Disney is looking to continue some of these shows, although it’ll probably be in a more tame, family-friendly form. Daredevil star Charlie Cox already sounds like he’s preparing for that. “So if they wanted to make a more PG version of Daredevil, I back them to find a way to do where it feels totally in keeping with everything we’ve done [on the show],” he said recently. “And maybe there’s a little less blood, maybe there’s a little whatever, but I back them to do it.”

I think Disney can afford to ignore The Parents Television and Media Council on this one.

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h/t SyFy Wire