Back at the dawn of the streaming wars, Disney+ was envisioned as an exclusive, one-stop shop for everything Disney — from animated classics to brand new original movies and series. But Netflix ultimately came out on top in the streaming wars, and Disney’s new strategy is to treat the OG streamer less like a rival and more like a promotional partner.
Per Variety, a new licensing agreement between Disney Entertainment and Netflix will bring a range of Disney-owned titles to Netflix, with the hope of drawing in new fans. The deal means that “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” Season 1 and 2 are now available to watch on Netflix ahead of the Season 3 premiere on November 20, which will be exclusive to Disney+. If you want to watch the first two seasons on Netflix, don’t wait too long, as they’ll only be available for three months.
Based on the book series of the same name by Rick Riordan, who also co-created the TV series with Jonathan E. Steinberg, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” stars Walker Scobell as the titular demigod, who is the son of Poseidon. His Olympian heritage brings him to Camp Half-Blood, a training facility for young demigodlings, but it also brings a whole heap of trouble.
The series co-stars Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth Chase, the role played by Alexandra Daddario in the “Percy Jackson” movies, and Aryan Simhadri as Percy’s best friend, Grover Underwood. Meanwhile, the adult cast includes Jason Mantzoukas (pictured above) as the camp’s director, “Mr. D” (aka Dionysus).
All five Ice Age movies are also available on Netflix for a limited time
If you manage to binge-watch both seasons of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” and find that you’re still hungry, there’s more to watch. As part of the deal, all five “Ice Age” movies are now available to watch on Netflix, also with a limited three-month window. In this case, it’s a gambit by Disney to get new audiences (particularly young audiences) hooked on the adventures of Manny, Sid, and Diego ahead of “Ice Age: Boiling Point” arriving in theaters on February 5, 2027.
“Ice Age” came under the Disney umbrella with the studio’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019. The original animation studio, Blue Sky Studios, was shuttered by Disney a couple of years later as part of pandemic-era cuts. A spin-off, “The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild,” was released exclusively on Disney+ in 2022, the first title in the franchise not to be produced by Blue Sky. That movie received poor reviews, and isn’t included in the Netflix deal.
