Marvel Fans Jump Ship as 'Loki' Season 2 Changes Release Date

Perhaps Marvel’s most popular Disney+ series, Loki, is officially returning for a second season, expected to be released on the streaming platform next month. However, although the upcoming season has been highly anticipated, its newly announced release date may have fans abandoning ship for a different streaming platform altogether.

Loki’s first season debuted in 2021 as part of Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It followed the releases of WandaVision, which was the first MCU series to be released directly to Disney+ and the first to kick off Phase Four, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. While both preceding series were well-received by fans, Loki became one the of best series to come from the superhero studio–a title it still holds two years and a dozen series later.

Marvel Disappointments and the Rise of Loki

The events of Season 1 set up the “Multiverse Saga,” the nickname for the current Phase Five of the MCU, introducing Jonathan Majors as He Who Remains, a variant of Kang the Conqueror. Kang was expected to be the next Thanos, bigger and badder than the previous Avengers’ villain, although Majors’ current controversy and abuse allegations have him in a state of limbo right now, with the studio remaining silent on whether the breakout star will be replaced or not.

As one of Marvel’s best-performing series, anticipation has been high for the second season, especially as the MCU has seen a string of disappointing releases this year. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was the first to be released under Phase Five earlier this year and became Marvel’s worst-performing release of all time. While Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 seemed as though it could turn things around, Secret Invasion flopped on Disney+ and almost every other upcoming Marvel project was subsequently delayed.

When the trailer for Season 2 was finally released, it broke records for being the most-watched trailer for a Disney+ series, and fans were hopeful that meant good things for the season itself. It was announced that the series would be released on October 6, following the usual practice of Disney+ releasing content in the middle of the night, which stirred outrage from fans.

Then, Ahsoka changed the game when Disney revealed it would be releasing episodes “early,” moving the show from its previously confirmed Wednesday at 3 a.m. ET/midnight P.T. to Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. Audiences were hopeful that Loki would follow suit as Ahsoka’s release drew in millions of viewers each week as new episodes were released.

Now, it’s confirmed that Loki will be ditching its previous date, moving from October 6 at 3 a.m. ET/midnight P.T., the first episode of Season 2 will be released on Thursday, October 5, at p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. However, this change conflicts with another major streaming series releasing its own second season, which could spell disaster for the Marvel show.

Our Flag Means Death Delivers Serious Competition to Disney+

Our Flag Means Death is an original series from Max (formerly HBOMax), starring Taikia Watiti (Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)) as Edward Teach, aka the dreaded Captain Blackbeard, and Rhys Darby as Stede Bonnet, aka the Gentleman Pirate. The series is a lighthearted romcom featuring found family, hijinks, and a love story between two of history’s most famous pirates.

The show was first released in early 2022 and quickly became one of the best shows of the year, beating out another Marvel show and holding steady as not only one of the most-watched original series on Max, but one of the most-watched series on the platform as a whole, earning a massive fanbase excited to see Watiti and Darby return when a second season was confirmed in June last year.

Since then, there hasn’t been much news about what fans can expect from the show’s continuation, which doubled down with much of the cast and crew following strike rules as the writers’ and actors’ strikes continue to shake Hollywood. Seemingly out of nowhere, first looks were released by “Vanity Fair” at the end of August and a trailer was released shortly thereafter, revealing that the second season would premier on October 5 on Max.

Unfortunately, Loki’s release date now conflicts with Our Flag Means Death, and fans have weighed in on X/Twitter to show where their loyalties lie. Pop culture site “The Streamer” posted a poll on X following the news from Disney+, asking its audience “Which [release] are you most looking forward to?” The response was, overwhelmingly, in favor of Our Flag Means Death, with 92% of the current 16,000 responses answering for the original Max series.

‘OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH’ Season 2 on Max and ‘LOKI’ Season 2 on Disney+ both premiere October 5. Which are you most looking forward to?

— The Streamr (@The_Streamr) September 18, 2023

Whether the account just has more Our Flag fans, it’s clear that Loki will have some rough competition for its release date. Of course, with both shows being released to streaming services, there’s no actual possibility of “missing” the episodes, but clearly the Marvel show has some serious competition amongst fans. As Marvel faces complaints of franchise and superhero fatigue as well as quality issues, its Multiverse Saga just doesn’t seem to be resonating with audiences the way the first decade of MCU releases did.

While Loki promises more multiverse confusion and an actor that’s turned into a villain of his own in real life, it doesn’t seem as though the Disney+ series will hold up compared to the excitement and anticipation fans have had for Our Flag since its breakout debut last year.

Which show are you more excited for? Let us know in the comments below!