Marvel Fans Are Ready to Leave the Avengers Behind

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest series, Moon Knight, dropped on March 30, 2022. The six-episode season will chronicle the adventures of Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac), a museum gift shop worker who discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and is sharing a psyche with mercenary killer Marc Spector.

Related: Marvel Fans Blast “Disrespectful,” “Ableist” Theory

Unlike previous Marvel Cinematic Universe series on the streamer — including WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and Hawkeye — Moon Knight does not focus on known characters from the Infinity Saga, but instead introduces a Marvel Comics character who has not previously appeared in Kevin Feige’s MCU.

While this was a bit of a gamble since so many MCU fans love the Avengers characters so much, it is certainly paying off so far. Samba TV shared numbers from Moon Knight‘s debut on Twitter:

1.8M US households watched the premiere of Marvel Studio’s #MoonKnight in its first 5 days streaming on #DisneyPlus. What did you think of the first episode?

1.8M US households watched the premiere of Marvel Studio's #MoonKnight in its first 5 days streaming on #DisneyPlus. What did you think of the first episode? pic.twitter.com/tD2p5RZZLY

— Samba TV (@samba_tv) April 4, 2022

Related: New Marvel Star Accused of Cultural Appropriation, Fans Plan ‘Shang-Chi’ Boycott

As a recent article noted, this places Moon Knight just below Loki, which had the most impressive debut of any Marvel Studios Disney+ Original show so far:

…[Moon Knight ties] The Falcon and the Winter Soldier for the second-highest debut for an MCU Disney+ show. Both shows still trail behind Loki’s impressive 2.5M debut but beat WandaVision and Hawkeye, which had 1.6M and 1.5M viewers.

Related: Benedict Cumberbatch “Refused to Speak” to Fellow Marvel Star on Netflix Set

As the MCU heads into Phase Five and beyond, Moon Knight‘s impressive debut indicates that Marvel fans are ready to leave the Avengers behind, at least in some regards, and focus on new characters from the Marvel Comics world.

It is worth noting that, despite its high numbers so far, some viewers are displeased with the  fact that the main character’s Jewish heritage has been largely erased in the live-action production. This cultural background is key in many comic issues.

Related: Who is the Creepy Monster Hiding in ‘Moon Knight’? A Guide to Marvel’s Khonshu

New episodes of Moon Knight are currently airing every Wednesday on Disney+.

More on Moon Knight

Related: Actor Convinced “Nobody,” Not Even Thanos, Can Beat the MCU’s New Villain

Moon Knight, the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is officially described as:

Moon Knight follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, who become plagued with blackouts and memories of another life. Steven discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. 

As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt.

Did you enjoy Moon Knight‘s premiere episode?

You can stream Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow and the six series in Marvel’s Phase Four so far — Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany’s WandaVision, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, Marvel’s What If…?, Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye, and Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight — on Disney+ anytime.