Ms Marvel and Obi-Wan may go head-to-head on Disney Plus
Ms Marvel and Obi-Wan Kenobi may be gearing up to compete for viewers, if a new rumor concerning the Marvel TV show is to be believed.
In what's expected to be a world-first for Disney, the company's two biggest franchises – Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) – could be going head-to-head on Disney Plus.
According to The Hollywood Partnership website, which regularly informs L.A. residents about forthcoming Hollywood street closures ahead of movie and TV show premieres, Ms Marvel's launch party is set to be held on Thursday, June 2.
A quick glance at premiere dates for other Marvel Phase 4 projects, including Moon Knight and Doctor Strange 2, suggests that their premieres will take place on Tuesday, March 22 and Monday, May 2. That's eight and four days respectively before Moon Knight and Doctor Strange 2 are officially released.
Using those premiere and release dates as a guide for Ms Marvel, Reddit users believe they've worked when Ms Marvel will land on Disney Plus – Wednesday, June 8. Ordinarily, that would be great news for MCU fans. We already knew that Ms Marvel was coming to Disney Plus this summer, but a concrete launch date is yet to be revealed. So any hint at its upcoming launch would be gobbled up by those waiting for official news on this front.
But there's a problem with that potential launch date – it puts Ms Marvel in direct competition with Obi-Wan Kenobi's standalone TV show on Disney Plus.
Usually, Disney is very careful about its release strategy for its streaming platform, especially when it comes to Marvel and Star Wars productions.
Shows like The Mandalorian, WandaVision, The Book of Boba Fett, and Hawkeye have never competed with one another for a share of Disney Plus' subscriber base. Each of these projects, and their various siblings, have launched on their own – a release strategy that has prevented the biggest Disney Plus series from taking viewers away from each other.
Ms Marvel's potential June arrival could tear up that scheduling manual. If its first episode is released on Disney Plus on June 8, it would air at the exact same time as Obi-Wan's third entry. Given the hype around both shows, it would be a very significant and hugely baffling decision on Disney's part. After all, why make two entertainment-based titans compete for viewers' attention?
The fall guy – or should that be girl? – in this is bound to be Ms Marvel. Star Wars fans have clamored for an Obi-Wan standalone story for years. And, despite MCU fans keenly anticipating the arrival of one of Marvel's most recently popular superheroes, Ms Marvel is arguably the 'weakest' of Marvel's 2022 Disney Plus line-up. That's if you compare it to the Oscar Isaac-starring Moon Knight, upcoming legal comedy She-Hulk, and likely action-packed Secret Invasion, which sees the return of Samuel L. Jackson as the iconic Nick Fury.
They wouldn't hold a red carpet premiere one month before the show starts. This confirms that Ms. Marvel will premiere in June. They can put it on Fridays so it doesn't overlap with Kenobi.March 9, 2022
It isn't entirely bad news for Ms Marvel or Obi-Wan. Both shows will be available to stream at any point on Disney Plus. Viewers interested in Marvel and Star Wars, then, can simply watch one before the other, if new episodes for each show arrive simultaneously.
There's also the fact that some MCU fans simply aren't interested in Star Wars, and vice versa. So releasing Ms Marvel and Obi-Wan alongside each other provides more choice to consumers who only intend to watch the show that intrigues them most.
If it wanted to, Disney could always reverse its decision to bring Marvel TV series out on a Wednesday. The first MCU shows to debut on Disney's streamer – WandaVision, and Falcon and the Winter Soldier – were actually released on Fridays. That release schedule changed with Loki in June 2021, with new MCU TV show entries dropping mid-week in a bid to distance them from competing shows on Netflix, Prime Video, and more on Fridays. Another change in release day strategy, though, is unlikely to be high on Disney's agenda.
It's unclear if Ms Marvel will debut midway through Obi-Wan's own six-episode run on Disney Plus. We won't know for sure until Disney confirms a release date for the former. But, given its upcoming premiere date, a June 2022 launch is looking increasingly likely.
If Ms Marvel does arrive in a few months time, it'll be fascinating to see if there's a way for Marvel and Star Wars shows to coexist if they release alongside one another. It may be a gamble on Disney's part but, with the sheer amount of MCU and Star Wars content coming to Disney Plus in 2022 and beyond, these two titans are bound to collide on the streamer at some point. Now, then, seems as good a time as any to see if they can live alongside each other.
For more Obi-Wan content, check out the series' first trailer, which landed online on March 9. Alternatively, read up on how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
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