Disney Reps Give Confusing, Conflicting Answers About Hulu’s Future

By TeeJay Small
| Updated 1 minute ago

Last year it was announced that Hulu would be going the way of the dodo bird after Disney purchased the streaming service in its entirety. With little need for two platforms, Disney execs openly stated that the Hulu app would sunset in early 2026. Of course, early 2026 has now come and gone, and there’s been little word about the future of the streamer, or how existing subscribers will be grandfathered in to Disney+. Thanks to a recent report in Business Insider, we’ve got the scoop on what Disney has planned, though their internal documents seem to raise more questions than answers.

According to an internal Disney memo acquired by BI, the House of Mouse is rolling out a plan called “Project Gemini,” which is on pace to be completed by the end of the year. Despite sounding like a Bond villain plan to steal nuclear launch codes, Project Gemini basically entails ruining the Hulu app until nobody wants to use it anymore. At which point, Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro will take the Hulu app behind the tool shed and give it the Old Yeller treatment. An unnamed employee is quoted as saying, “Hulu is on life support at this point, with no active development,” and steps have already been taken to reduce Hulu staff and respond slower to bug reports.

Killing Hulu Softly

The memo specifies that the plan is to “get folks to migrate organically” to Disney+ “by offering a better experience.” In layman’s terms, they plan to let bugs, glitches, and poor streaming quality consume Hulu, until subscribers quit the app and search up their favorite movies and shows on Disney instead. To facilitate this adjustment, they’re working on migrating watch history, likes, and other user data from one app to the other. Once completed, Disney plans to make their app a central hub for streaming, as well as buying merch and tickets to Disney parks.

If you’ve spent any time browsing Disney+ in recent months, you’ll know that almost everything from Hulu has already been moved over to the new library. Once the last movies and shows are migrated, app support for Hulu will be abandoned entirely. Disney’s official stance is that “The Hulu tech stack and app will be decommissioned after all users have transitioned,” but Business Insider reports “there are no current plans to sunset” the Hulu outlet at all. Meanwhile, certain app stores, such as the Nintendo eStore, have stopped offering downloads and update support to Hulu already.

Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Timelines

So it looks like the initial ‘early 2026’ timeline is firmly out the window, but there’s really no telling when we’ll get a straightforward update. For many subscribers, this is all meaningless, since Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions are largely intertwined. A majority of Hulu users even use a MyDisney login to manage their account on both apps. For others, though, this poses a major problem.

I personally maintain a free Hulu subscription bundled with my Spotify monthly plan. As of June 2026, I have received no communication from any party explaining how my account will be impacted by this new management. Disney and Spotify are not officially linked, meaning there’s technically nothing forcing the conglomerate to grandfather my free subscription into their updated library. So, by the end of the year, I may be part of a small minority clinging to the scraps of Hulu like Jack on the door of the Titanic.

Stripping Hulu For Parts

Losing Hulu won’t be the end of the world, especially if all of the content is migrated into Disney+. Despite my personal distaste for monopolies, I can admit that this change will make everything more streamlined and simple for consumers. Still, the lack of transparency behind the transition concerns me, and makes me feel like executives at Disney are moving with reckless abandon. In a media landscape that already disrespects the consumer at every turn, the least they can do is provide clearer info as they strip one of the largest streaming outlets for parts.