HBO subscribers: Watch Wonder Woman 1984 for free with HBO Max before it leaves Jan. 24 – CNET

A lot of us have been hunkered down at home these days — which means there’s no better time to grab a bowl of popcorn and watch Wonder Woman 1984 from the comfort of your sofa. The latest installment from the DC Universe, starring Gal Gadot, started streaming Dec. 25, the same day of its theatrical release. But if you can’t make it to a theater to see the blockbuster sequel, you’ll need HBO Max to catch it before it leaves the service on Jan. 24. 

The good news is that you might have access to HBO Max already and not even know it. If you currently subscribe to HBO via your cable or satellite provider, you can probably get HBO Max without paying anything extra. That means you can stream HBO Max exclusives like the new Wonder Woman movie, as well as The Matrix 4, Dune and other films coming in 2021 — none of which will be available on “regular” HBO. 

The only catch is that you can’t watch HBO Max using your cable box. Instead, you’ll need to watch on a smart TV or streaming device — or a Comcast Xfinity box — using the HBO Max app and your home internet connection. It works just like the app for Netflix, Hulu or Disney Plus: you sign in and watch on-demand anytime you want. The HBO Max app is available on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, PlayStation, Xbox and numerous other devices.

Read more: Roku and HBO Max finally strike a deal

So what if you don’t subscribe to HBO already as part of your cable bill? Then you’ll need to pay for HBO Max directly at $15 per month if you want to watch Wonder Woman 1984. See below for details.

HBO Max is a new streaming service that offers every show and movie available on HBO and adds a host of exclusive content from WarnerMedia and DC Comics. In addition to big theatrical movies like Wonder Woman, it’s home to popular shows such as Friends, The Big Bang Theory and Rick and Morty; recent and classic films as well as kids’ content from Looney Toons and Sesame Street; and new exclusives like Zack Snyder’s Justice League later this year. The HBO Max catalog is simply massive.

Here’s how you can get it.

I get HBO from my TV provider. How do I get HBO Max?

HBO said last year that about 29 million people have access to HBO Max at no added cost because they already have regular HBO. All of the following cable, satellite or streaming companies will let HBO subscribers get HBO Max at no extra charge.

• DirecTV/AT&T TV
• Hulu
• YouTube TV
• Comcast
• Charter/Spectrum
• Altice (Optimum and SuddenLink)
• Verizon
• Cox Communications 
• NCTC (WOW, Atlantic Broadband, RCN, Grande Communications & Wave and MCTV)
• Don’t see your provider above? Here’s the full list (click “cable and satellite TV providers”)

If your provider is supported and you currently subscribe to HBO, you have access to HBO Max. Here’s what you’ll have to do to watch it.

The sign-in process varies according to which device you have, and you may already have a username or password that you used with the HBO Go app, which has been largely retired. In that case you might be prompted to use that password instead.

Note that the HBO Max is available on phones, tablets and computers too, including Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch (with iOS 12.2 or later), Android phone and tablets (with Android OS 5 or later), Amazon Fire tablets (fourth generation and later) and Windows and Mac computers via various browsers. Game consoles such as the Xbox One, Series S and Series X as well as the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 all also have HBO Max apps. 

If you don’t have one of the supported TV devices you can still watch HBO Max by streaming from a phone, tablet or computer to a TV. Here’s how.

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If I don’t get HBO Max from a provider, what should I do? 

You’ll have to subscribe to HBO Max directly.

The price is similar to what most cable providers charge for basic HBO — $15 per month — but HBO Max is currently running a special deal through March 1: You can get a six-month HBO Max subscription for $70. That works out to about $11.67 a month, a savings of about 22%.

That deal is good enough that, assuming you want to keep HBO Max for six months, you might even want to cancel your current HBO or subscription and take the new deal instead (assuming you’re not in the middle of a contract with your TV provider). Again, you’ll still get access to every TV show and movie on regular HBO, in addition to all the exclusives on HBO Max. You’ll just have to stream it all via the app instead of using your cable box.