The Walt Disney Company and WEBTOON Entertainment have announced plans to develop a new digital comics platform that will bring together more than 35,000 comic books from across Disney’s portfolio. The platform will feature titles from Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, Pixar, and 20th Century Studios in one subscription service.
The collaboration builds on Marvel Unlimited, Disney’s existing digital comics subscription. WEBTOON Entertainment will build and operate the new platform, which aims to offer both archived content and current comic book runs in a mix of vertical and traditional formats. In addition to stories from Disney properties, the service will include select WEBTOON Original stories.
Disney+ subscribers will be able to access a curated selection of comic titles through the new app at no extra cost as part of the Disney+ Perks program.
WEBTOON Entertainment and Disney had previously announced a multi-year partnership that included nearly 100 reformatted classics and original series designed for WEBTOON’s vertical-scroll format.
“By uniting our unparalleled collection of comics across Marvel, Star Wars, Disney, Pixar and 20th Century Studios into a single digital platform, we’re giving fans unprecedented access to the adventures they love – all in one place,” said Josh D’Amaro, Chairman, Disney Experiences. “Through our expanded relationship with WEBTOON, the global leader in digital comics, we’re opening doors to new audiences and deepening fan engagement.”
The companies plan wide distribution for the platform. Some comics will be localized for Korean and Japanese audiences via WEBTOON’s platforms.
As part of their commercial agreement, Disney has also entered into a non-binding term sheet to acquire a 2% equity stake in WEBTOON Entertainment. Both this investment and the broader collaboration are subject to final agreements between the parties.
“With a new platform that will combine our product and technical expertise with Disney’s full comic catalog, we’re giving new and longtime fans all over the world a new way to discover these legendary characters and stories,” said Junkoo Kim, Founder and CEO of WEBTOON Entertainment. “Disney’s extraordinary storytelling legacy is second to none, and we’re honored to work with them to build the future of digital comics. This is a powerful next step for our growing global business, and a strong foundation for even greater collaboration with Disney in the years ahead.”
WEBTOON Entertainment operates several major storytelling platforms globally including Wattpad—one of the leading webnovel platforms—and claims about 155 million monthly active users across its ecosystem.
The Walt Disney Company reported $91.4 billion in revenue for its fiscal year 2024.
