Update, October 2026: Warner Bros. Discovery ended its merger agreement with Netflix on February 27, 2026, after accepting a superior offer from Paramount Skydance, which paid Netflix a $2.8 billion termination fee. Paramount Skydance completed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, 2026. 10-K note | 8-K
For about three months, it looked like Netflix would own Batman, Superman, Harry Potter, Looney Tunes and the rest of the Warner Bros. library. Then the deal fell apart, and a different buyer walked away with the studio.
Here’s how it happened, and why so many parents were watching.
The deal Netflix announced
In December 2025, Netflix announced it had agreed to buy Warner Bros. at an enterprise value of about $82.7 billion. It would have been one of the largest deals ever in the entertainment industry, putting one of the largest libraries of children’s characters under the same roof as the world’s biggest streamer.
Why parents didn’t trust Netflix with it
Netflix already had a track record that worried families. In May 2018, Barack and Michelle Obama signed a multi-year production deal with Netflix through their company, Higher Ground. In 2020, Netflix released Cuties, a film widely criticized for how it portrayed eleven-year-old girls. Netflix defended it as social commentary and kept it streaming until its license ran out in 2024.
In October 2025, Elon Musk publicly urged people to cancel Netflix over gender-identity content in children’s shows. So when the same company moved to buy Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo, it was fair to wonder whether the classics would be “updated” for today’s activists.
How the deal died
The fear never got tested. Paramount Skydance came in with a better offer, and on February 27, 2026, Warner Bros. Discovery ended its agreement with Netflix. Netflix collected a $2.8 billion termination fee on the way out. Paramount Skydance closed its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery on October 6, 2026.
The timeline, start to finish
- December 2025: Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery signed a merger agreement on December 4, and Netflix announced the deal at an enterprise value of about $82.7 billion.
- February 27, 2026: Warner Bros. Discovery’s board determined that Paramount Skydance had made a “Company Superior Proposal,” and Netflix waived its right to propose revisions to its agreement. Warner Bros. Discovery then terminated the Netflix agreement and signed a merger agreement with Paramount Skydance, which paid Netflix the $2.8 billion termination fee on Warner Bros. Discovery’s behalf.
- October 6, 2026: The purchase closed. Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders received about $31.02 a share in cash, the stock came off Nasdaq, and the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of the buyer, now renamed Skydance Corporation.
Who owns the Warner Bros. library and kids’ brands now
Warner Bros. now belongs to Skydance, led by chairman and CEO David Ellison. Its closing announcement lists Warner Bros., HBO and HBO Max alongside Paramount+, Pluto TV, CBS, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, and describes a franchise portfolio “spanning Top Gun and Harry Potter to White Lotus and SpongeBob SquarePants.” Harry Potter and SpongeBob now sit under one roof, and it isn’t Netflix’s.
The company has made specific promises: at least 30 theatrical films a year, each with a minimum 45-day run in theaters, and streaming products that “will unify into a single service over time.” On closing day, Ellison said HBO Max and Paramount+ will run separately at first, with bundling possible “in the relatively short term,” and that “long-term, the plan is basically to bring them together.”
What the announcement doesn’t say matters to families too. It names no plans for Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo or the DC characters. Until Skydance spells those out, judge the new owner by what actually shows up on screen.
What parents can actually do
You don’t need a merger to take charge of your family’s screen time. Netflix’s own parental controls guide lists the tools:
- Give each child a separate profile, or use the Netflix Kids experience. Netflix’s help center explains how to create and edit profiles.
- Set a maturity rating for each profile, or block specific titles.
- Lock your own profile, and require a PIN before anyone can add a new profile.
- Turn autoplay previews off, and adjust autoplay for TV shows.
- Check each profile’s viewing history.
If the settings aren’t enough, you can cancel at any time from the Manage your membership page.
What it means now
Netflix’s grade on the Woke Broke List hasn’t changed: it’s still an F. Losing Warner Bros. didn’t change what Netflix puts in front of kids.
If you don’t like what Netflix is making, cancel your subscription and tell them why.
Photo: Warner Bros. water tower, Burbank. Junkyardsparkle, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.