‘Black Widow’s Release Date Shuffle Opens the Door for ‘Loki’ to Premiere in May

Loki is the Marvel title I’m most amped to watch on Disney+ this year. It’s not just going to be the return of Tom Hiddleston‘s bewitching trickster god, but the chaotic, puckish version of Loki. The new show will follow what happened when Avengers-era Loki took the tesseract and escaped custody in Avengers: Endgame, starting a wholly new timeline. This Loki isn’t saddled with grief over his mother’s death or rocking a newfound sense of nobility. He’ll be an agent of mischief, and I can’t wait for it.

I was all set to wait until Loki‘s June 11, 2021 release date to start streaming my way through the Asgardian’s adventures on Disney+, but now I need it sooner. That’s because as soon as Disney announced that Black Widow‘s May 2021 release date had been pushed to July 9 (along with a Disney+ Premier Access option), I realized, “Damn. I’m going to have to choose between watching Loki Episode 5 and Black Widow on Friday, July 9. That’s not cool.”

Since Black Widow’s release date has moved from May 7 to July 9, Disney should consider making a similar shuffle to Loki‘s Disney+ premiere date. The show should premiere a few weeks earlier in May, in the lull between The Falcon and The Winter Soldier‘s April 23 finale and Black Widow‘s July 9 premiere.

Please, Disney+ move Loki to a May 2021 release date!

Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige has made it clear for a while that Marvel plans to have an incredibly big presence on Disney+. In just three months, we’ve seen the premiere of two major MCU series, WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Later in 2021, we’re also supposed to see the aforementioned Loki, as well as new series Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye. After that, She-Hulk and Moon Knight. Even as the studio continues to ramp up production on a new slate of films, Marvel is going all in on Disney+.

So what’s Marvel’s big Disney+ strategy? Well, based on what we heard prior to this week, the idea would be to create a steady, non-stop pipeline of MCU storytelling for True Believers everywhere. The first half of 2021 would go like this: WandaVision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Black Widow (in theaters), Loki, and then Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Later 2021 would see Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye bookending The Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s releases. It would be a never-ending Marvel marathon.

Except now that Black Widow‘s release has shifted to July — and Disney+ — that seamless rollout strategy has two major hiccups. There’s nothing new premiering in May and now two Marvel titles jockeying for attention in early July.

The first problem might not be a “problem” per se. It’s totally fine for Marvel to take a break. After all, thanks to the pandemic, there wasn’t a single new Marvel release in all of 2020. And it’s entirely possible that they will queue up the launch of the new animated series What If…?

However…July 9.

I can’t help but feel that it’s not in Loki or Black Widow‘s best interest to be competing for eyeballs on that date (and the weekend after, which would be Loki‘s finale date). If Disney is hoping for any sort of box office bounce for Black Widow, it’s not going to help ticket sales if Loki on Disney+ viewers are immediately connected to the Black Widow landing page. And if people are logging onto Disney+ to watch Black Widow, they may not prioritize Loki‘s penultimate (or even final) episode.

So what’s a media mega-company to do? Well, just shift Loki‘s premiere date up a few weeks so there’s no overlap. Put Loki in May! Come on, don’t be jabronis about it, Disney+. Give both Black Widow and Loki the full shine they deserve and keep the Marvel content coming for fans.

Please!!! Shift Loki‘s premiere date to May 2021!!!

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