Netflix's New Disney Competitor Already Has A Major Problem

Published Sep 18, 2026, 10:30 PM EDT Liz Declan is a Lead Writer for ScreenRant, primarily covering movies. She is a massive fan of Star Wars, the MCU, and Supernatural. In addition to writing, Liz loves attending and covering conventions and interviewing actors. Find her on TikTok and Instagram @va.va.vera This November, Netflix is releasing a brand-new movie, Steps, that is going to put the streamer even more directly in competition with Disney than it already is. Over the last decade or so, as streaming has gotten increasingly prominent, Disney and Netflix have felt more and more like direct competitors. Once upon a time, Netflix was best known for housing myriad movies and several original shows, whereas Disney was much more strongly associated with princesses, fairytales, Disney Channel Original Movies, and similar selections. Complicating that a bit was the fact that Disney acquired both Marvel and Star Wars movies and TV shows, but since those acquisitions, innumerable other changes have happened that have only blurred these lines all the more. Now, Disney+ houses Hulu, which the House of Mouse now also owns and which puts out shows much more aligned with what Netflix had long been known for, and Netflix has (very successfully) tried its hand at animated musicals geared towards kids, such as with the wildly successful 2025 film KPop Demon Hunters. Netflix's upcoming release is only going to make these streaming platforms feel all the more similar, as the title of Steps refers to the stepsisters from the classic fairytale Cinderella—the evil stepsisters, that is. Of course, Disney doesn't own that story, nor did it originate it; Cinderella as a character long predates Disney. However, there can be little doubt that when many people think of Cinderella, they think of the Disney version. Netflix's Steps will flip that on its head, though, along with the very nature of the stepsisters (and that may prove to be a problem). Netflix's Steps Is Totally Changing The Cinderella Story Credit: Netflix Animation © 2026 As the trailer for Steps makes clear, this new movie is not going to be a classic Cinderella story. In addition to the movie focusing primarily on the stepsisters (Lilith in particular, it seems) rather than on Cinderella, the very premise of the movie suggests that fans don't really know the true story of the sisters. Specifically, the movie's most fundamental idea seems to be that the stepsisters are misunderstood rather than evil. For now, the exact explanation is unknown, although the trailer suggests there will be some sort of adventure story alongside Cinderella that will reveal the truth. Without knowing what exactly the plot is going to be, it's difficult to argue with Steps' framing of these sisters, and it's possible that this will be well explained and feel inventive and compelling to audiences. In fact, the jaw-droppingly star-studded cast, which includes Daniel Radcliffe, Ali Wong, Amanda Seyfried, Peter Dinklage, and many others, may be enough to sway audiences to both watch and love the film. Yet, there's also a chance that the premise alone will frustrate viewers. While fairytales are essentially built to be adapted, with countless iterations of the Cinderella tale being put out over the years, and there therefore shouldn't be too much pickiness over how these stories are told, there is something a bit irksome about the consistency with which movies and shows seem to take villainous characters and reveal they're not actually evil after all. Complicated villains are great; anti-heroes are great. At the end of the day, though, many movies are going to require someone to be a villain. Do Movies And TV Shows Have A Villain Problem? Image via Disney+ There's nothing inherently wrong with a complicated villain; in fact, a nuanced villain is generally a more interesting concept than a flat character who is bad for no apparent reason. There is, however, a difference between a complicated or nuanced villain and a character who was established to be a villain and then becomes rewritten or retconned so that they're no longer really a villain at all. Lately, it's seeming like films and TV shows are opting much more for the latter than they are the former. This is certainly true of Star Wars, which has, many times now, taken a character who seemed to be a clear villain and then had them become redeemed or, at the very least, much more sympathetic. That is obviously true of the most iconic villain in the franchise, Darth Vader, although that narrative felt innovative and earned when it was first told in the 1980s. Now, though, characters like Kylo Ren, Asajj Ventress, Osha/Mae and so many others have gone from villains to something more complicated. It will actually be interesting to see how this plays out with the upcoming MCU movie Avengers: Doomsday, too, as already, the Doomsday trailers have suggested that there's more to Doctor Doom than we think, such as with Sue Storm saying he was once kind and caring. Granted, that story hasn't yet been revealed, nor has the story of Steps, so it's possible that either or both of them will stick the landing. Even so, the fact that Steps is once again taking a villainous character and flipping the script could lead to some viewer frustrations. Release Date November 20, 2026 Director Alyce Tzue, John Ripa Writers Ava Tramer, James Madejski, Jen Chuck, Dana Schwartz, Felicia Ho Producers Amy Poehler, Jane Hartwell, Kim Lessing Cast Bette Midler Fairy Godmother