Secret Invasion Suffers Low Viewership Vs. Other MCU Disney+ Shows

Secret Invasion's early viewership numbers are poor, ranking near the bottom of all MCU Disney+ series premieres.

In the leading role, Samuel L. Jackson is back as Nick Fury, but this time he may be out of his league.

A Skrull rebellion has grown in the shadows for years and is now ready to strike fear and pain on Earth in order to create its own new world.

Marvel Studios coined the show an "Event Series," but early reviews do not indicate that it has lived up to that kind of self-made hype.

Secret Invasion Suffers Second-Lowest MCU Premiere Audience

Samba TV revealed that 994,000 U.S. households streamed Secret Invasion’s premiere in the first five days of release.

This makes Samuel L. Jackson's latest series the second-lowest MCU Disney+ show premiere in terms of viewership. 

The full list of Marvel streaming premieres per U.S. households goes as follows, with Tom Hiddleston's Loki Season 1 leading the charge and Iman Vellani's Ms. Marvel lagging behind:

1. Loki - 2.5 million 
2. Moon Knight - 1.8 million
3. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier - 1.8 million
4. WandaVision - 1.6 million
5. Hawkeye - 1.5 million
6. She-Hulk - 1.5 million
7. Secret Invasion - 994,000 
8. Ms. Marvel - 775,000

Does Secret Invasion Have an Audience Problem?

This six-part "Event Series" is off to an upsetting start, especially considering it is only outperforming Ms. Marvel so far, which was a brand-new character within the MCU.

The controversy surrounding Marvel's decision to use AI-generated images for the opening credits could play a factor, as many fans were outraged by that decision after watching the cold opening of episode one.

Marvel's next Disney+ premiere is Loki Season 2, which will be fascinating to see how well it performs in terms of viewership.

Its first season was wildly popular back in 2021, but Jonathan Major's key role as Victor Timely/Kang the Conqueror could have a direct impact.

Additionally, Secret Invasion's premiere may be an example of superhero fatigue, especially when three big-budget comic book movies were released in theaters over the past two months.

Regardless, there was plenty of time to breathe between She-Hulk's August 2022 release and Secret Invasion kicking off Phase 5 on Disney+ mid-year 2023.

Secret Invasion's first episode, "Ressurection," is now streaming on Disney+.