‘Secret Invasion’ failing to scrape even 1 million views in its first week is dire news for the future of Disney Plus

The first word on how Secret Invasion is faring on Disney Plus is in, and it’s unfortunately got a good word. Subscribers to the Mouse House’s streaming service should’ve been desperate for more MCU content as the Samuel L. Jackson show’s premiere earlier this June marked the end of an eight-month Marvel TV drought, following the conclusion of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law back in October. Sadly, it seems many simply did not bother tuning in.

According to stats compiled by Samba TV, Secret Invasion failed to accrue 1 million views domestically across its first five days on Disney Plus. Specifically, just 994,000 U.S. households caught episode one over this period. That officially makes it the second-worst opening to a Marvel streaming series yet, coming ahead of only Ms. Marvel, which kicked off with just 775,000 domestic views.

This is a huge dip down from She-Hulk episode one being viewed by 1.5 million households, and an even sharper drop from last summer’s Moon Knight, with its 1.8 million opening views. The record-holder for most popular MCU TV premiere ever remains Loki, with 2.5 million watching its first episode. Even animated series What If…? managed to reach the 1 million mark.

A glimpse at Samba TV’s figures makes clear that there is some fluctuation in Marvel’s Disney Plus viewing figures, so Loki season two could certainly help shoot those stats right back up come its own arrival in October. However, it certainly spells trouble for those upcoming MCU shows that don’t have an established character’s name in the title. Like, say, Wonder Man or perhaps even Echo.

Series like Loki, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and WandaVision have clearly been big hits with viewers right off the bat, while Moon Knight is an outlier in proving so popular despite being an unknown character beforehand. It can be done, then, but those Disney Plus series on the way that don’t have a pre-established Marvel “brand” in the name may face some struggle.

We’ll see if Secret Invasion‘s viewing figures can pick up as it continues on Wednesdays.