Ms. Marvel has a new Disney Plus launch window – but it'll be a long wait

Ms. Marvel has been handed a new release window on Disney Plus – but fans will have to wait another eight months, at least, for its arrival.

The superhero's live-action debut was originally supposed to land on the streamer before the end of 2021, but it was delayed indefinitely back in September. Now, The Walt Disney Company has revealed that Ms. Marvel won't debut on Disney Plus until the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022.

The announcement was made as part of Disney's Q4 2021 earnings call, with reporters including ComicBook.com's Jenna Anderson confirming the news on social media. Ordinarily, that would mean that Ms. Marvel would be released between October and December 2022, which would make the wait even longer.

But there is some good news. Unlike most companies, whose fiscal years end in December, Disney's finishes in October every year. This is confirmed in the company's 2021 end-of-year fiscal report, which means that the its fourth quarter runs from July to September.

So what does that mean for Ms. Marvel's release? Kamala Khan's first-ever live-action adventure will arrive on Disney Plus sometime between July and September 2022.

We had hoped that Ms. Marvel would receive an early 2022 release date as part of the forthcoming Disney Plus Day celebrations. 

Now, though, we know that Kamala Khan and company won't land on the streamer for a while yet. It's possible that we may still receive a first-look teaser for the TV series during Disney Plus Day, however, which would give us a taste of what to expect from the series.

Analysis: The pros and cons of Ms. Marvel's new release window

On the one hand, Ms. Marvel's summer 2022 release window is a sound decision on Disney and Marvel's part.

The Marvels, one of the many MCU movies that make up Marvel's Phase 4 plans, recently saw its own release date pushed back to February 2023. 

Given that Ms. Marvel will play a supporting (or co-starring) role in the Captain Marvel sequel, it makes sense that Marvel Studios would want Ms. Marvel's TV show to release as close to The Marvels as possible. That way, fans won't need a lengthy refresher, about who Kamala Khan is, ahead of The Marvels' release.

That said, Ms. Marvel's new launch window does pose a problem for Marvel.

The studio has two more projects to release in 2021 – Hawkeye's Disney Plus show arrives on November 24, before the eagerly anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home lands in theaters on December 17.

Once the webslinger's third (and potentially final) MCU outing launches, though, there's a huge gap in Marvel's Phase 4 schedule. The next production, which has a confirmed release date, is Doctor Strange 2. But the Sorcerer Supreme's second solo outing won't arrive in cinemas until May 6, 2022. That creates an unexpected five-month gap between Marvel projects.

Of course, Marvel may have a trick up its sleeve. The studio may announce that another of its upcoming Disney Plus shows, such as Moon Knight or She-Hulk, will fill the gap between No Way Home and Doctor Strange 2. Both projects have finished filming and are due to arrive in 2022, so one of them could get an official release date announcement during Disney Plus Day.

She-Hulk would be the more likely of that duo to receive a launch date. Filming wrapped in late August, while Moon Knight's principal photography didn't end until mid-October. With so much post-production to conduct, crunch would be the order of the day if Moon Knight was to release early next year.

Hopefully, we'll hear more about Marvel's upcoming Disney Plus slate during its Disney Plus Day presentation. The studio has to provide clarity on this front, especially for fans who don't follow a company's quarterly fiscal reports. If it decides that nothing will fill the gap between No Way Home and Doctor Strange's sequel, though, MCU fans will be waiting a long time for something new to drop.

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