Well, this sucks. When news broke earlier this week that Hawkeye (2021) would premiere November 24th people got nervous about Ms. Marvel. Literally 1 week earlier Victoria Alonso, Executive Vice President of Film Production at Marvel Studios, said both series were coming this year. We believed the 6-week gap between Hawkeye and What If…? (2021) was intended for Ms. Marvel and that something would be worked out. What If…? was confirmed to be only 9 episodes today and Ms. Marvel is only 6 episodes itself. We are 100% confident that was the intention because of the apparently Halloween setting seen in photos – but unfortunately intentions don’t always pan out. We can no longer assume Entertainment Weekly made a mistake or used a poor choice of words when they said Hawkeye was “the next live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe show.”
While it went under the radar, TVLine’s sassy, trustworthy Editor-in-Chief Matt Mitovich “confirmed” July 29th that Ms. Marvel had indeed been passed over for Hawkeye in the comments section of Nick Caruso’s article. Today they doubled-down with another mention of this sad turn of events.
What makes this sad? Well – the fall on Disney+ just got even more sparse. The first MCU Disney+ series starring new characters got pushed. The first bit of Muslim hero representation is now ~5 months away instead of 2. She-Hulk (2022) and Moon Knight (2022) are now likely delayed as well as the dominos fall. Take your pick.
This means Disney’s original order revealed at Disney’s 2020 Investor Day is no longer accurate. I argued with people last year that Blade‘s position wasn’t likely to stick and they pushed back that Disney wouldn’t have set the order if they were going to change it but I was right about that. Sadly, this is now the 2nd time their order has been unset. This brings back memories of last year when WandaVision (2021) was announced as coming 2020 and even in September’s “It’s Fall on Disney+” campaign they included it in the materials for a late 2020 release. Once again an MCU show gets hit with a delay. So why?
Why Is Ms. Marvel Delayed?
The possible reasons for this delay are plentiful. Perhaps the CG isn’t going well and needs more time. If test audiences aren’t responding well, they might need reshoots. Another possibility is they’re having issues with a future series and to avoid a weak beginning to 2022 Disney is pushing the show back to fill a gap. We’ve also seen that Disney’s initial promises about The Mandalorian season 3 were not accurate. They claimed it would come soon after The Book of Boba Fett (2021) but with the filming schedule it seems we’re looking at summer 2022 release there. Ms. Marvel may be their attempt at schedule “spackle.”
My guess? Nothing dramatic – just post-production needing more time than they anticipated. There is a possibility of the show “premiering” in the last week of December which would keep Victoria’s statement from being false but it would mean overlapping Boba Fett and Ms. Marvel and I can’t see Disney doing that.
Is There Still Hope For An October Release?
Despite TV Line and others insisting Hawkeye is now first in order, the strangely timed reveal that What If…? season 1 has been shortened to 9 episodes which expands the 5-week gap between Hawkeye and What If…? to the exact 6 needed for Ms. Marvel brings hope. Disney could easily air a Legends episode the same week of the What If…? finale.
The Ms. Marvel merchandise and toys are starting to leak. Much like with WandaVision, this stuff is made well in advance. Remember, WandaVision had an intended Halloween episode too. Is it a curse?
I hate to keep perseverating but it just feels like Disney’s plans for this fall got a huge blow if this is true. Just Beyond (2021) and Doogie Kamealoha (2021) will likely be airing in October but the lack of a big Marvel show for Halloween feels like the 2nd year in a row they missed a tie-in opportunity.
Are you disappointed in Ms. Marvel’s delay? Have you noticed how empty the fall is compared to spring and summer? Do you think the exact space between Hawkeye and What If…? needed for Ms. Marvel points to it still coming?
Drew Ryan is a film, TV, and Disney geek. He has degrees in English, Student Personnel Administration, and Library & Information Science from Lawrence University, Concordia University-Wisconsin, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Interested in the minutia and licensing of streaming service content, he is always publishing lists, suggestions, and advocating for Disney’s missing library to be added to Disney+. Drew subscribes to Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, and Paramount+. You can find him waxing nostalgic over classic Disney Channel or geeking out over Marvel, CW shows, & Disney on Twitter.
