Great first: an MCU series broadcast exclusively on Disney+ will benefit from a release in physical format. Except that the box will not contain any disc with the episodes on it.
For several years, the SVOD Disney+ platform has offered series integrated into the Marvel cinematic universe. This distribution in exclusively digital format is not to everyone’s taste and, for example, fans would like to add a few physical pieces to their collection, which today brings together several dozen films (on DVD, Blu-ray or Blu-ray UHD). As indicated by The Direct in an article published on July 23, WandaVision will soon make them happy… or almost.
Thus, Manta Lab has teamed up with Disney and Marvel to design two boxes in the colors of the very first MCU series, the broadcast of which started in January 2021. But something is wrong with the description and the visuals provided: there is no disc in the packaging. We are not even sure that a download code is included to be able to watch Wanda Vision without going through Disney+.
A DVD set… without a DVD
Obviously, the two boxes offered by Manta Lab, sold in limited quantities (1,250 and 800 copies), exist primarily for the physical object as such. ” This is a collectible steelbook only. “, can we read. There are still some goodies to get your teeth into, such as postcards, stickers or character cards. The most expensive of the editions will still cost you $88 – or around €80. Still without any discs. In short, Manta Lab makes us pay for merchandising.
We can really deplore the existence of such a product on the market. For multinationals like Disney, offering films and series only in streaming represents a shortfall on the sale of certain products (DVDs in the lead). This “collector’s steelbook” then makes it possible to overcome this point, by playing on the sensitive chord of collectors (the limited edition). It is all the more to denounce that there could be a future where this steelbook exists but no longer the series – Disney being free to stop the broadcast as it sees fit, without any property rights on the part of viewers. A physical edition of Wanda Vision should normally offer tranquility to aficionados, but it doesn’t.
Note that these physical editions without discs already exist in the world of video games. Just recently, Blizzard Entertainment took the liberty of launching a collector’s edition of Diablo IV having the particularity of not containing the game itself.
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