When Is 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Finally Going to Be on Disney Plus?

Another Star Wars Day has come and gone, and still, Solo: A Star Wars Story is suspiciously absent from the Disney Plus lineup. What’s the deal with that? It’s a Disney movie that’s definitely not still in theaters (hey, remember theaters?), and yet, anyone who was hoping to stream it on the Disney Plus app will be sorely disappointed. Why is Solo not on Disney Plus? The answer is a little more complicated than you might expect.

Although Disney Plus is still relatively new to the streaming service game, we’ve been able to figure out the way they go about adding new releases to the service. In most cases (and when there isn’t an active pandemic making things weird and complicated), Disney movies are first released in theaters. After their theater run is complete, Disney then makes their new movies available for purchase.

And then, after everyone has had a chance to buy their physical copy of the movie, Disney finally adds the film to the Disney Plus lineup. Generally, it’s a good six to eight months after a movie’s theater release that it finally makes its way to the streaming platform. Obviously, we’re living in weird times where movies like Onward and Frozen 2 are added to Disney Plus way ahead of the usual schedule.

And yet, still no Solo! For those who don’t remember, Solo: A Star Wars Story came out all the way back in the spring of 2018 — two years ago! Anyone wishing to rewatch the infamous sabacc game where Han wins the Millennium Falcon on Disney Plus has instead had to simply stare at their television screens and shake their head in sadness... or they just switched over to Netflix to watch it.

When you look up Solo on Disney Plus, you’ll see a message saying that the film is unavailable “due to existing agreements.” Basically, that just means that Solo is currently streaming elsewhere — specifically, Netflix — and is thus not available on Disney Plus. 

This actually isn’t very uncommon. In fact, Black Panther (which also came out in 2018) was also only available on Netflix until recently — it just joined the Disney Plus lineup on March 4. When you consider the fact that Disney Plus has only been around since November of 2019, it makes sense that there would be other streaming deals in place that would make some new(er) movies unavailable.

But don’t worry! Solo is coming to Disney Plus, and it may be happening sooner than you think! Solo will officially be on Disney Plus on July 9, 2020. In the meantime, you can still stream it on Netflix, or rent it for a couple of bucks from your favorite digital rental service (e.g., YouTube, Amazon Prime, or Google Play).

And as most Star Wars fans already know, you can officially stream The Rise of Skywalker on Disney Plus as of May 4, 2020. That’s in addition to the many, many other Star Wars films and shows already on the streaming service. That should be plenty to tide you over until July, right? If not, just remember the wise words of Master Yoda: Patience, you must have.