It was disheartening for fans of Ms. Marvel to see the show seemingly perform so poorly in its debut week on Disney+, not even breaking one million US households in a five-day period. However, many blamed the series for streaming on the same day as Obi-Wan Kenobi, which would explain why She-Hulk: Attorney at Law suddenly changed from premiering on Wednesdays to Thursdays.
This is something that many would say should have been done since Disney+ was launched, which now stops She-Hulk from having to compete with Andor when it eventually debuts on Disney+ on Wednesdays. Unfortunately, She-Hulk was also review bombed to an even greater degree than even Ms. Marvel.
But, new data for She-Hulk will surely make some fans feel vindicated about the lower viewership numbers of Ms. Marvel from earlier this summer.
She-Hulk Outperforms Ms. Marvel
According to Samba TV, She-Hulk boasts healthy viewership numbers, with data showing that 1.5 million US households streamed the series in its first four days of availability.
However, remember that the rest of Marvel Studios' Disney+ shows (excluding What If...?) were tracked using data throughout a five-day period, not four. That means it's entirely likely that She-Hulk would have had higher numbers, possibly as high as The Falcon and the Winter Solider or Moon Knight.
For comparison, here's the five-day premiere viewership for Marvel Studios' other shows, as tracked by Samba TV:
- WandaVision: 1.6 Million
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: 1.8 Million
- Loki: 2.5 Million
- What If..?: 281k (one-day availability)
- Hawkeye: 1.5 Million
- Moon Knight: 1.8 Million
- Ms. Marvel: 775k
Something else to keep in mind is the average number of US households that tuned in for these shows during the five-day period. Excluding What If...? and Ms. Marvel, viewership numbers in US households averaged 1.84 million. But, including Ms. Marvel brings the average down to 1.65 million US households.
So, it's more than likely that if She-Hulk were tracked for another day, it would have beaten the average viewership for a Marvel Studios Disney+ premiere.
Disney Learns Its Lesson in Streaming
Ms. Marvel was an outlier regarding these shows' viewership numbers. There was quite a bit working against Ms. Marvel compared to the other series, such as the character being relatively new, the lead being a complete unknown surrounded by equally unknown characters and actors, and a tone aimed more towards teenagers.
However, it wasn't helped when Disney made the frankly asinine decision to pin this new character in the MCU up against Obi-Wan Kenobi, a series starring quite possibly one of the most beloved characters and actors from the Star Wars franchise. So it's no surprise that its numbers were so low compared to the other Marvel shows on Disney+.
Of course, not to say Ms. Marvel would assuredly pass the 1.65 million average, but it would have at the very least surpassed a million US households. So, it's good to see She-Hulk having such a healthy performance, and while it could be mostly credited to the character being directly adjacent to Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, it helps that it has Thursdays all to itself.
It's even better to see how well it's doing, considering how much worse it was review bombed compared to Ms. Marvel. Showing, once again, that those kinds of knee-jerk online reactions are squarely in the minority.
Fans can continue enjoying She-Hulk: Attorney at Law every Thursday on Disney+.
