Moon Knight Has Second Best Marvel Studios Debut on Disney+, Ahead of Hawkeye and WandaVision

Not only is Moon Knight one of the most unique entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it also seems to be one of the most popular, at least among the franchise’s TV fare. The Moon Knight premiere episode, which was released on Disney+ this past Wednesday, is the second-biggest debut episode of any Marvel Studios TV series to-date, passing the likes of Hawkeye and WandaVision.

According to Samba TV’s latest numbers, Moon Knight‘s premiere was viewed by 1.8 million households in the United States over its first five days. That’s 20% higher than the premiere of the most recent Marvel Studios series, Hawkeye, which was viewed in 1.5 million households in that same opening span. The only Marvel show to top Moon Knight to this point is Loki, which was viewed by 2.5 million households in its opening frame.

Samba TV measures viewership on enabled SmartTVs in 3 million households around the country. So while these numbers aren’t the exact streaming totals for these shows, the metric is a solid one to use for comparisons, since they’re measuring the shows in the same number of homes.

Unlike Loki, Moon Knight isn’t working with any previously established MCU characters. Oscar Isaac’s hero is brand new to the franchise, and there isn’t any kind of major connection to the rest of the franchise in the Moon Knight series. Despite this lack of connection up front, Moon Knight producer Grant Curtis believes that the possibilities for the character in the MCU are endless going forward.

“What I will say is this: because we delve into so many interesting tones in the tapestry we eventually weave together with this show, the action-adventure globetrotting, the bump in the night horror aspects of it, the mental health character study, the humor, I do think wherever [Marvel President] Kevin [Feige] wants this character to go in the future, I don’t think there’s any corner in the MCU that that Moon Knight cannot inhabit naturally,” Curtis explained. “And that is a testament not only to the character on the page, but the character that Oscar Isaac brings to the screen. I would take this amazing cast with me. And if it can’t be this cast in the future: People, and artists-men, and crafts-women, who are at the top of their game, just like Oscar [Isaac], Ethan [Hawke] and May [Calamawy] are. That makes my job so much easier when these actors.”

What did you think of the debut episode of Moon Knight on Disney+? Let us know in the comments!