Disney+ has proven to be a successful investment for the House of Mouse as it now has an outlet to deliver its wide range of content straight to audiences every week. From the beginning, the streaming platform had promised access to much of the company's catalog, blockbuster original movies, series on big-screen budgets, and new content in the MCU and Star Wars universes.
With Marvel and Star Wars releasing so many episodes of original content, there was always bound to be a time at which they began to overlap. After two years of avoiding this crisis, Disney+ will soon face this predicament for the first time in June as the first three episodes of Ms. Marvel will be dropping on the same days as the second half of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Even as concerns emerge that the Marvel newcomer will struggle to garner attention against Ewan McGregor's highly-anticipated Star Wars return, Disney has doubled down on overlapping its biggest series with history set to repeat itself later in the year.
Star Wars and Marvel Make Disney+ History
At Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm revealed Andor will premiere its first two episodes on Disney+ on August 31, just two weeks after She-Hulk's debut on August 17, making August 2022 the first month ever to debut both a Marvel and Star Wars series on Disney+.
Given that She-Hulk will run for nine episodes while Andor runs for 12, over 11 weeks due to the two-episode premiere, the two will overlap for seven weeks. This period of overlap may prove slightly shorter if the legal comedy debuts with two episodes just as WandaVision did, which is the only other live-action MCU Disney+ series with over six episodes.
Before then, Ms. Marvel and Obi-Wan Kenobi will offer a lesser five weeks of overlap with the first three installments of the Marvel series debuting alongside the back half of the Star Wars epic.
Disney+ Makes Big Plans for 2022
Disney+ always had an expansive slate lined up for this year across Marvel, Star Wars, and more. The MCU has four series this year, including Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and more What If...? Season 2; Star Wars will have premiered at least five series by the end of the year, being The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Andor, as well as second seasons of Visions and The Bad Batch.
The two combined amount to an unprecedented nine seasons of television from the two universes, with more total episodes than there are weeks in the year, making overlap between them inevitable. Overall, this move is great for Disney+ subscribers as they receive even more content every week, but this may lead to some projects being left in the dust against bigger competitors.
After the first few episodes of Ms. Marvel, it ought to become clear how Marvel and Star Wars overlapping shows will affect performance and interest. Whether the Marvel series performs well statistically on both the service and social media will be integral to Disney's decision in making similar moves in the years to come.
Either way, both June and August look set to be huge months for Disney+, as both Marvel and Star Wars have episodes of series airing in each.
