Enlarge / Willow is the highest-profile show to be removed as part of these cuts. (credit: Disney)

We saw it before with HBO Max and others, but Disney has now joined the content-cutting party. More than two dozen series and movies will be removed from Disney-owned streaming channels Disney+ and Hulu come May 26.

The list of shows removed notably includes Willow , the single-season TV series follow-up to the beloved 1988 cult-classic fantasy movie directed by Ron Howard. The Willow series premiered in November 2022 but struggled to find an audience.

Other notably cut content includes but is not limited to The World According to Jeff Goldblum , a couple of Marvel-themed documentaries, and several kids programs.

Enlarge (credit: Marvel Studios/Disney+ )

Disney+ plus Hulu equals Disnulu?

Someone may or may not come up with a better name than that, but by the end of 2023, there will be a new streaming app combining the libraries of Disney+ and Hulu, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed during an earnings call last night.

Iger clarified that customers will still be able to sign up for Disney+ or Hulu only—or ESPN+ only, for that matter. However, the new app will bring a "one-app experience" in the US with Disney+ and Hulu's selection of movies and TV shows.

Enlarge (credit: Disney)

Since its launch in 2019 , Disney+ has only slightly jumped in subscription costs for both monthly and annual fees. If active subscribers don't check their account settings when a major Disney+ change goes live later this year, they won't notice a difference in their bills, as the streaming service's "base" price will remain $7.99 per month.

Starting in December, however, anyone who sticks to that Disney+ tier will see a new "feature" on the service: advertisements. Disney+ will follow the likes of Netflix and HBO Max, which announced post-launch pricing shake-ups to add advertisements to their programming as a way to offer lower-priced tiers while raising rates for other ad-free subscriptions.

That means Disney+ will also see its existing ad-free tier increase in price, starting on December 8 , to $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year, a 37.5 percent increase. Technically, long-term Disney+ subscribers will see a price hike at the lowest tier, as well, as the existing $79.99 per year option ($6.66/mo) will be discontinued. If you want to pre-pay to save, you'll have to do so at the no-advertisements tier.

Enlarge (credit: SOPA Images / Contributor | LightRocket )

Last year, Hulu raised its ad-supported subscriptions by a dollar, shortly after prompting subscribers to submit more feedback on ads. Since 2017, vocal members in the Hulu community have complained about seeing the same political ads “1,000 times,” with some claiming they were repeatedly served ads from Republicans that spread misinformation. After President Biden was elected in 2020, others complained about “Democratic propaganda.” Many suggested Hulu wasn’t the place for political ads, with one post pitching a new Hulu policy of “no political ads” getting more than 2,000 votes.

At least one subscriber in the forum claimed that regardless of content, Hulu was financially motivated to sell political ads, but this week Hulu has taken actions that seemingly respond to subscribers' longtime complaints—by blocking more political ads. Democrats have claimed that Hulu blocked political ads discussing key party issues like abortion rights, gun control, and climate change, sparking an entirely different backlash and a Twitter rally cry to #BoycottHulu.

“Hulu’s censorship of the truth is outrageous, offensive, and another step down a dangerous path for our country,” executive directors of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Democratic Governors Association told The Washington Post in a statement. “Voters have the right to know the facts about MAGA Republicans’ agenda on issues like abortion—and Hulu is doing a huge disservice to the American people by blocking voters from learning the truth about the GOP record or denying these issues from even being discussed.”

Enlarge / I'm pretty sure that's the Predator in the mist, ready to battle in new prequel film Prey . (credit: 20th Century Studios)

On Tuesday, a wealth of new sci-fi and fantasy trailers emerged for feature-length films expected to launch on streaming platforms by the end of this summer. While most come courtesy of the "Netflix Geeked" brand, the biggest arguably comes from 20th Century Studios, mostly because it suggests some much-needed redemption for the Predator series.

Prey , set to launch exclusively on Hulu on August 5, twists the series' naming convention to clarify that our favorite alien beast is now in the bow-and-arrow sights of an eager hunter. In terms of timeline, this film qualifies as a "prequel," as it rewinds to 18th-century America and stars Comanches who had apparently not yet had their lives upended by invading colonists. The trailer features actor Amber Midthunder as the apparent lead and implies that she is the first in her tribe to discover a Predator. Her character, Naru, is nearly killed in a bear hunt gone awry, only to see the bear yanked away at the last second by a much more powerful adversary.

The trailer's harrowing battles and chases point to Predator's clear technological lead over its Comanche rivals, as it responds to a quartered bow with infrared laser sights and does some underground burrowing. Caucasian militiamen emerge briefly with era-appropriate muskets, but the trailer implies that they aren't the heroes of this story; rather Naru's mastery of Comanche weaponry and traps could give her the upper hand in protecting her brethren from a confusing alien force.

We here at Ars have sorely missed the intrepid crew of the USS Orville . Production on the third season of The Orville abruptly halted in March 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the series is finally coming back with a new home on Hulu, a new name ( The Orville: New Horizons ), and an entertaining new trailer rife with all the space-based action and buoyant good humor in the face of danger that we've come to expect from this sci-fi series.

(Spoilers for prior seasons of The Orville below.)

As I've written previously , the series is set aboard the USS Orville (ECV-197), an exploratory spaceship in the service of a 25th-century interstellar alliance known as the Planetary Union. Series creator and star Seth MacFarlane ( Family Guy ), who plays Capt. Ed Mercer, was a huge fan of Star Trek growing up, particularly The Next Generation , so it's not surprising that The Orville has embraced a similar sensibility. As I wrote in my S2 review , "This is a smart series that combines humor and witty dialogue with cutting-edge science, ethical musings, the occasional literary reference, and genuine heart."