10 Massive Franchises That Netflix Controls After WB Deal

Netflix has made a deal to buy Warner Bros. for something like $83 billion. (And here I was thinking I was looking good with my $81 billion bid. I was so close!) If it the deal passes governmental regulatory approval (which is not necessarily a certainty) it would combine two of the biggest media conglomerates in the world into a single, even more massive entity.

Part of what would make the combined Netflix/Warner Bros. company so huge would be its control over both studios’ intellectual properties. Netflix — which already has its own hits like Stranger Things, Bridgerton, Squid Game, and Wednesday — would gain access to Warners’ own franchises, which include some of the most beloved movies and TV series on the planet.

Again, nothing is final as of this moment. Under the quickest possible timeline, Netflix and Warner Bros. wouldn’t begin to merge until after Warner Bros. (along with HBO, HBO Max, and DC) splits from Discovery Global (the half of the company that includes CNN and its linear cable channels), something that isn’t expected to happen until the third quarter of 2026 at the earliest. So, just for one extremely unlikely but theoretically possible example, a Netflix-produced Justice League TV series couldn’t even begin to become a reality for several years.

Still, fans inevitably want to contemplate what franchises could start to migrate to Netflix in the years ahead, so here are ten of the biggest properties that are now (at least on paper) under the company’s control...