Earlier this month, Disney+ in the United States was updated with new parental controls, which allowed content rated R and TVMA onto the streaming service for the first time.

To tie in with the release of these new parental controls, several mature-themed Marvel series, including “Jessica Jones” and “The Punisher”, were added on to Disney+.

Just today, the first episode of “Moon Knight” was added onto Disney+, which is a much darker Marvel series.  While the series is rated as a TV-14 in the US, it has been given a 16+ rating in the UK and across Europe, as it was deemed the violence pushes it into the next rating category.

But recently, an eagle-eyed Reddit user u/MooninMoulin has discovered that Disney has gone back and reedited some scenes from “The Falcon And The Winter Soldier”, making minor edits to reduce the violence in the series.

One of the scenes that changed is from the third episode, where Hydra scientist Wilfred Nagel is shown dead on the ground.  In the original version, he had blood across his chest and blood running from his mouth.  The blood has been removed in the newly edited version, and the character’s eyes are now closed.

Another scene that has been edited is one involving a bounty hunter being stabbed through a shoulder with a pipe.  In the new version, the pipe bounces off the thug instead.  I’ve also checked the episodes in the UK, and they’ve been edited to the new version as well.

Ironically, the scene involving John Walker smashing Captain America’s shield into a villain’s chest and being covered in blood is still in the series.  This scene is one of the most brutal and violent scenes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“The Falcon And The Winter Soldier” was initially released over a year ago, so it’s unclear when these edits were made.  It could have been months ago, before the parental controls were added and only recently come to light.

Disney has previously gone back to released series and made minor adjustments, such as editing out a member of the crew in “The Mandalorian” or editing an outside shot to tie “WandaVision” to the upcoming “Doctor Strange” film.  The release of “Splash” also saw Disney blur a shot of Daryl Hannah’s bum.

Many Marvel fans have expressed their concerns on social media about censoring or editing these scenes, since this is a slippery slope for Disney.  Editing content is something they’ve been doing for decades, but unlike with physical media, content on Disney+ is much easier to be edited.    With many fans worried that shows like “Daredevil” or “The Punisher” might be edited, to tone down the violence.

Hopefully, with parental controls now available on Disney+ in the US, this allows more mature content to be added onto the streaming service.  Hopefully, we don’t see other edits to films and shows.  Instead, raising the age rating would make more sense, keeping the content as the creators intended.

It’s important to stress. These edits might have happened long before the new parental controls were activated on Disney+ in the United States and are only just coming to light now.  But it also shows one of the downsides to streaming services.  As things can be removed or edited, without subscribers having any control.

Update:  According to THR’s Ryan Parker:

Eagle-eyed fans were right, an episode of ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ had been altered on Disney+.

I hear from a reliable source it was a software control issue and the wrong file was recently published accidentally. It’s being corrected immediately.

 

“The Falcon And The Winter Soldier” is available to stream now on Disney+?

 

What do you think of Disney+ editing shows after they’ve been released?

 

 

Source – The Direct

 

 

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Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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6 Comments

  1. Ethan March 30, 2022

    This is ridiculous! The violence is literally the most important aspect of the series.

  2. Jon March 30, 2022

    Personally, I’d be bothered if Disney edited the context of scenes. All these do is tweak the gore level. I’ll be the first to be counted if Disney really start altering stories but I’m against getting on a bandwagon due to assuming the “slippery slope” is inevitable.

  3. ItsMe March 30, 2022

    I have noticed any of the mentioned edits but I think they should leave content alone if it's not appropriate for whatever reason then don't add it service but now that they have parental controls in the US and the Star tile outside of the US which allows for more mature content the service should just change the age ratings in the future instead of editing. I would not like to see Daredevil, Punisher or other series they added recently getting toned down in the future

  4. Dan March 30, 2022

    Ridiculous. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier was already very tame without editing it to water it down. There was nothing in it that would be above a BBFC 12. Not good enough for a paid streaming service, Disney should undo these edits and reinstate the uncut version on Disney+ as soon as possible. I'm not paying to watch sanitised versions of TV shows and films. If Disney have for some reason decided it's not family friendly enough a whole year later, then just bump up the age rating and leave it uncut.

    1. Jon Potter March 30, 2022

      They’re not going to change it back. Who even knows when it was done for a start? How many people have been rewatching the show to know when the changes happened? Honestly, the likely result is that some people will get heated over it, most won’t even know it’s happened and Disney will let the whole thing blow over. I wish that wasn’t the case and that Disney had found another way to fix whatever the issue was, but in the grand scheme of things, removing the more blatant gore and violence is pretty minor.

  5. Mercury March 30, 2022

    This is exactly why I do not like Disney+ as it currently stands and stopped subscribing after WandaVision. There was absolutely no reason for this removal and once again shows that Disney is not a place for creatives or mature content — at least not when it comes to Disney branded or Disney+ content. I’m very disappointed, especially given what’s happened outside the US with Star and recently with the Defenders additions. Hopefully Disney adds the original scenes in.