With Moon Knight set to release at the end of March, it seems to be the cause behind Disney+ breaking a Star Wars tradition on the streaming platform. The upcoming Marvel show will feature the adventures of MCU newcomer Marc Spector, who may or may not have been chosen by an Egyptian moon god to become a vigilante. With its March 30 release, Moon Knight won’t end before this year’s annual Star Wars Day on May 4th, a date that Disney+ has traditionally used to release new content from the galaxy far, far away. As a result, Disney+ should have continued a Marvel trend to keep their Star Wars tradition going.
Starring Oscar Isacc in the titular role of Moon Knight and having already accrued quite a bit of hype, Moon Knight is one of Marvel’s most anticipated projects in 2022. However, the series being six episodes long means that its final episode will be airing on May 4th, a date typically reserved for new Star Wars projects due to the holiday created by fans (and since adopted by Disney’s own marketing). For example, 2020’s May the 4th saw the finale of The Clone Wars season 7 as well as The Rise of Skywalker coming to the platform, while 2021’s Star Wars Day aired the first episode of The Bad Batch.
However, it’s already been confirmed that Disney and Lucasfilm have two Star Wars series set to premiere in 2022 with Obi-Wan Kenobi, featuring the return of Ewan McGregor, getting a release date of May 25th (the other Star Wars Day). Star Wars’ other series Andor starring Diego Luna will likely premiere in the fall. Unfortunately, it makes sense that Disney isn’t releasing the finale of a Marvel series and the premiere of a Star Wars project on the same day as it would no doubt split viewership for both. However, an easy solution would have been for Moon Knight’s first two episodes to release on March 30th, freeing up May the 4th for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
There is somewhat of an MCU precedent if Disney had decided to release Moon Knight’s first two episodes on March 30th. WandaVision released its first two episodes upon its premiere, as did the more recent Hawkeye (which also had six episodes). While not every Marvel series has followed suit with a dual-episode premiere, it seems like it would have been a no-brainer on Disney’s part with no downside.
Whether Moon Knight had received a dual-episode premiere or had been simply pushed up a week, it would have been nice to see Obi-Wan Kenobi premiere on May the 4th. While Moon Knight’s finale episode will no doubt be entertaining and exciting, Disney is now arguably breaking an established Star Wars tradition, running the risk of disappointing fans on Star Wars Day, a holiday they’ve rallied behind to become a source of celebration. As such, a schedule change would have been a smarter move for all parties involved.
Moon Knight is set to premiere March 30th on Disney+.
Key Release Dates
- Rogue Squadron (2023)Release date: Dec 22, 2023
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