Ms. Marvel is the newest hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She’s making her debut in her own solo series on Disney+. Marvel has been leaning heavily on these solo series as a way of fleshing out the universe recently. The Ms. Marvel solo series is the 6th solo series to hit Disney+ just since 2021. They’re establishing new characters and stories for this newest phase of the MCU.
But will Kamala Khan’s presence in the MCU wind up being brief? The numbers are in for viewership on her show, and it’s not looking particularly good. Marvel’s been wary about giving solo titles to female superheroes. Could this be another nail in that coffin?
Ms. Marvel Flops
The viewership numbers came out recently via Samba TV. They estimate that Ms. Marvel got 775k viewers for the premiere. Those numbers don’t sound too bad, but pale in comparison to the show’s direct competition. The MCU show with the next lowest premiere viewership is Hawkeye. And that show had 1.5 million viewers for its premiere. That’s nearly twice the number Ms. Marvel got. The highest debut of any MCU Disney+ show was for Loki. Loki got an impressive 2.5 million viewers on the first episode. Ms. Marvel has just over a quarter of that.
Things aren’t all bad for Marvel’s newest and youngest superheroine. The same report states that Ms. Marvel is doing amazingly well with the Gen Z crowd along with minority viewers. They report that Black, Hispanic, and Asian households are watching at a higher rate than with other MCU shows. Kamala Khan is the MCU’s first Pakistani-American and Muslim hero. It’s clear that diversity is getting a positive reception among minority groups while apparently getting the silent treatment from older white audiences.
The Future Of The MCU
Does this spell the end for Kamala Khan? Not likely. This isn’t the first MCU flop, and Marvel doesn’t typically throw out popular comic characters so easily. Thor, for instance, had a very cold reception in its first two movies. But Marvel stuck with the character and over time built an understanding of what works and what doesn’t. Now Thor: Love And Thunder is one of the most anticipated MCU films in years. It’s certain to break box office records. Whether or not Kamala Khan will ever do the same is yet to be determined. There’s a long way to go before any of that happens. But the potential is there.
New episodes of Ms. Marvel Season 1 will continue premiering on Disney+ until the finale in episode 6. The end of her series will coincide with the premiere of the newest MCU movie. Thor: Love And Thunder, which comes out on July 8th.