Marvel Studios and Disney Plus have gone hand-in-hand since the launch of the latter in 2019. Although there weren't any original series from the Marvel Cinematic Universe until 2021, the two larger-than-life forces collaborated from the get-go, as almost all of the MCU movies arrived on the streaming service and a number of extras, special looks, and updates came along in the year that we all waited for the Marvel franchise to tackle television.
When WandaVision premiered, it set the stage for a new MCU era, allowing for plenty of new stories within the shared universe of superheroes that we had come to adore over the previous decade. Shows like Loki, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, and Agatha All Along have expanded the horizons of the franchise, spotlighting characters in ways that the films simply couldn't do. Now, there have been some low points along the way (Secret Invasion) that have led to Marvel and Disney coming up with a new TV strategy, but the partnership between the two giants is clearly still in full effect.
That being said, Disney Plus has removed a Marvel fixture from the platform and it has caught a lot of fans completely off-guard.
Disney Plus removes Hits and Heroes channel from its service
If you were one of the many who appreciated watching their content via actual channels, you might be sad to hear that Disney Plus has quietly removed its Hits and Heroes channel from the streaming service. The streamer has not provided any explanation as to why it took down the channel, which is no longer there as of the beginning of May, but we can speculate that it might be down to it not performing like the-powers-that-be had hoped. It's especially disappointing as it was only launched towards the end of last year, so it didn't even stick around for a full 365 days.
Hits & Heroes was an all-day-round channel within the Disney Plus streamer that aired Marvel and Star Wars content. It functioned like a linear TV channel in that viewers could just switch it on and watch whatever was airing at that point in time. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to catch on in the way that the platform had hoped. As The Direct points out, however, introducing a separate Star Wars channel probably didn't do it any favors as it already potential halved its audience (if the Star Wars fans simply wanted to watch movies and TV shows from their favorite galaxy so far, far away, they could just tune into that one instead).
It does beg the question: If they created a Star Wars Streams Channel, why didn't the House of Mouse oversee the creation of a Marvel only one too? After all, Disney Plus houses almost all of the MCU movies as well as all of the original MCU shows (including the classic ones that they like to pretend aren't canon anymore), so it goes without saying that audiences who simply wanted to be surprised by Marvel could have enjoyed switching on a Marvel-exclusive channel.
As well as Hits & Heroes, the streamer also removed the Real Life channel, which focused solely on National Geographic content (which honestly just sounded like the National Geographic Channel). That leaves the Star Wars, Simpsons, and Phineas and Ferb channels as the only active ones right now.
Perhaps Disney Plus is going to experiment with new channels, or perhaps a Marvel-specific one is on the horizon. Needless to say, the quiet removal of Hits and Heroes is another unexpected blow for MCU fans who simply want to return to the glory days of enjoying their Marvel content on Disney Plus. While plenty of it will continue to come, the recent overhaul in the studio's release strategy, the less annual releases, and the potential cancellation of some fan-favorite MCU shows has made us all appreciate the Marvel content that we do get.
Watching it all back on Hits and Heroes was a bonus.