Disney Plus Day 2021 was full of surprises but some new content offerings from the Mouse House have been exclusive to select regions such as the non-availability of IMAX enhanced Marvel films in India & Malaysia. Despite Hotstar’s radio silence to Indian subscribers, it seems like there may be an answer behind a few content exclusions.
The 2nd anniversary of Disney’s OTT platform had most eyes set on Marvel Studios’ special presentation offering sleeve of updates on Disney Plus shows such as Loki season 2 & more. But the bigger selling point came with the release of over 13 Marvel films in IMAX format, including the new blockbuster, Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings.
As PursueNews earlier reported, Shang-Chi’s IMAX format is not available on certain TV units. Going by Hotstar’s support response, even the already available 4k features are currently accessible only on Android TV, Apple TV and Fire TV. Disney is still working on enabling this option to LG WEBOS.
Hi! Currently, we have enabled 4k feature on the latest app on Android TV, Apple TV and Fire TV. We are working on adding this feature to LG WebOS as well. Appreciate your patience.
— Disney+HS_helps (@hotstar_helps) November 17, 2021
Unfortunately, few of Disney Plus Day’s new releases haven’t appeared on Hotstar as of this post’s writing, and it’s seemingly not specific to India. Users of the mouse house’s OTT platform in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand have also raised complaints about no IMAX enhanced Marvel titles. So Far, Disney Plus Hotstar has carefully dodged subscribers’ queries regarding the IMAX format Marvel films whilst promoting Shang-Chi.
When will IMAX Enhanced Marvel films be released in India & Malaysia?
Disney Plus India and Malaysia support team account on Twitter clarified in early November that IMAX Enhanced titles will be available at a “later date”, though a specific schedule wasn’t revealed. Further replies to other subscriber queries have been assured to expect IMAX format Marvel films in the “future”. You can check out the tweets below.
Will it be available in India? @DisneyPlusHS @DisneyPlusHSP @hotstar_helps https://t.co/uVsmyqLzxZ
— Pramit Nandi (@Punter2010) November 8, 2021
Hi! This will be available on Disney+ Hotstar at a later date. Please stay tuned.
— Disney+HS_helps (@hotstar_helps) November 8, 2021
@jessgemuk @zhafvlog Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. IMAX Enhanced will be available at a later date. Shang Chi will be available on 12 November at Disney+ Hotstar for streaming. Kindly stay tuned!
— Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia Help (@dplusmy_help) November 8, 2021
@DisneyPlusID why in my apple TV cannot play IMAX enhanced? Is it not available in Indonesia?
— Minto88 (@Minto88) November 13, 2021
Hi @suriarteta We are excited to have your attention in regards to IMAX Enhanced. We assure you to share it with the respective team and we will try our level best to provide the latest update in regards to the mentioned content as soon as possible.Thank you!
— Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia Help (@dplusmy_help) November 9, 2021
Hi @rzephyrion, thank you for contacting Disney+ Hotstar. IMAX Enhanced will be available at Disney+ Hotstar in the future. Stay tuned for updates. Thank you.
— Disney+ Hotstar Malaysia Help (@dplusmy_help) November 9, 2021
Why are some Disney Plus Day titles not available on Hotstar [Explained]
From the looks of it, the availability of IMAX enhanced Marvel films and other titles will be based on subscriber demand. Currently, the fan-favorite 90s X-Men animated series is also not available. To date, Disney Plus’s responses on social media also suggest the same since queries from users are reportedly being forwarded to the content team handling library updates, as per the responses below. So perhaps subscribers should pay a visit to the Disney Plus feedback portal to inform the rising demand for these contents.
Hi! While we do not have it at the moment, we have shared your request with the Content Team. In the meantime, we hope you are enjoying all of our other Disney+ Hotstar content.
— Disney+HS_helps (@hotstar_helps) November 16, 2021
Frustrated subscribers of Hotstar have continued to pile on their queries questioning why India’s Disney Plus content library faces such hurdles on a regular basis. Disney Plus has over 116 million subscribers worldwide and notably, 40% of its users are from India, Indonesia and Malaysia.
