Netflix Disney+ Paramount+ Apple TV+ content Matt Zoller Seitz Avengers: Endgame Paramount blockbuster film blockbuster cinema
2019 onwards has seen the rise of American streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, and Apple TV+, which came to rival traditional cinema. Industry commentators have noted the increasing treatment of films as "content" by corporations that correlate with the increased popularity of streaming platforms. This involves the blurring of boundaries between films, television and other forms of media as more people consume them together in a variety of ways, with individual films defined more by their brand identity and commercial potential rather than their medium, stories and artistry. Critic Matt Zoller Seitz has described the release of Avengers: Endgame in 2019 as "represent[ing] the decisive defeat of 'cinema' by 'content'" due to its grand success as a "piece of entertainment" defined by the Marvel brand that culminates a series of blockbuster films that has traits of serial television.
