Disney’s Marvel Studios, after a series of box-office disappointments, paired up two of its biggest stars to deliver the most popular film release of 2024, as well as any R-rated film in history.

Deadpool & Wolverine tallied $211 million in domestic ticket sales in its first three days of release, ranking as the eighth-best box-office debut of all time.

Internationally, the Ryan Reynolds-Hugh Jackman feature captured $233.3 million for a global tally of $444 million.

It’s the biggest global opening since James Cameron’s epic sci-fi fantasy Avatar: The Way of Water generated $439 million in 2022, and the biggest domestic opening for Marvel since the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home garnered $260.1 million in 2021.

Deadpool &. Wolverine is the 34th film released based on characters from the so-called "Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's also the 34th consecutive MCU release to debut at No. 1 at the domestic box office. But it's the first installment to receive an R-rating since Disney assumed control of Marvel.

While the numbers would be impressive no matter when they arrived in Marvel’s timeline, Deadpool & Wolverine’s performance is especially notable in the midst of a post-pandemic box office slump for the superhero genre, which some have even dubbed “superhero fatigue.”

Last year, The Marvels generated just $84 million through its entire global theatrical run, while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania only gathered $214 million.

Madame Web, which was released by Sony and based on Marvel IP, generated just $100.298 million for its entire worldwide theatrical tour. 

Also Read: Poor Tracking for 'Madame Web' Forecasts What Will Likely Be Marvel's Biggest Bomb Ever

Deadpool & Wolverine surpassed that total on its first day..

The film marks Reynold’s third time playing this version of comic character Deadpool (after a far less funny, cameo iteration in 2009’s X-Men: Origins). It's Jackman’s 10th time in the role of Wolverine, starting with 2000’s X-Men.

Directed by Shawn Levy, Deadpool & Wolverine cost a reported $320 million to make and market worldwide.

While it’s likely a welcome victory for Disney, it remains to be seen whether the franchise’s success will translate to the entirety of the MCU.

Deadpool & Wolverine is largely a tonal departure for Marvel’s films, and lacks connections to the universe’s current narratives, but Disney may look to its performance when shaping future projects.

Ticket buyers gave Deadpool & Wolverine a 97% fan approval rating on RottenTomatoes, behind only Spider-Man: No Way Home, which sports a 98% audience score.

As of Deadpool & Wolverine’s release, Disney is responsible for 16 of the top 20 highest-earning domestic opening weekends of all time, with the MCU owning 11 of the top 20.

Streaming service Disney Plus will spread some Marvel-themed holiday cheer to viewers with the December 22 second season debut of its animated series What If …?, with new episodes running over consecutive nights.

The nine-episode, Marvel Studios-produced series continues the journey as series host “The Watcher” guides viewers through the vast multiverse, introducing brand new and familiar faces throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe, said the company. This season is expected to feature such MCU characters as Nebula, Hela and Happy Hogan, according to Disney Plus.

Disney Plus debuted the first season of What If ...? in 2021. Season two of What If …? is executive produced by Bryan Andrews and AC Bradley.

Disney Plus announced it will launch the second season of its Marvel Studios-created animated series I Am Groot on September 6.

The five-episode I Am Groot series shorts – based on the tree-themed Groot character from the Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel movie franchise – returns to explore “the universe and beyond aboard the Guardians’ spaceships, coming face-to-face or nose-to-nose with new and colorful creatures and environments,” according to the streaming service. 

Also: Live-Action 'The Little Mermaid' on Disney Plus Next Month 

The first season of I Am Groot debuted on Disney Plus in August 2022.

Vin Diesel returns as the voice of Groot in the series, which is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and Kristen Lepore.

I Am Groot follows the August premiere of the Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3 film, which garnered more than $800 million at the global box office since its theater debut in May. 

Disney Plus in October will re-engage viewers with the exploits of Marvel Cinematic Universe character Loki and the Time Variance Authority in the second season of its Loki drama series, according to a recently released series trailer.

The series' six-episode sophomore campaign, which debuts October 6, continues to follow the proclaimed “God of Mischief” -- played by Tom Hiddleston -- as he teams with the TVA to keep the multiverse intact. The first season of Loki, which premiered in 2021, remains the most watched Marvel Studios series on Disney Plus,  according to the streaming service. 

Along with Hiddleston, the series stars Sophia Di Martino, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Wunmi Mosaku, Eugene Cordero, Key Huy Quan, Owen Wilson and Jonathan Majors.

Loki is the first of the Marvel Studios-produced series for Disney Plus to return for a second season. It is also the second Marvel series to debut on the streaming service in 2023 following the June launch of Secret Invasion.

Disney Plus will debut its latest Marvel Studios-produced original series Secret Invasion on June 21, the streaming service announced in a new video trailer.

The series, which stars Samuel L. Jackson reprising his Marvel Cinematic Universe role as Nick Fury, follows a potential invasion of Earth by a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls, and the efforts of Fury and other Earth-based heroes to save humanity, according to Disney Plus.

Other stars reprising their MCU roles in the series include Ben Mendelsohn (Skrull Talos), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill) and Martin Freeman (Everett Ross).

Secret Invasion is executive produced by Jackson, Kevin Feige, Jonathan Schwartz, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Ali Selim, Kyle Bradstreet and Brian Tucker. 

Secret Invasion is the eighth Marvel Studios live-action series to debut on Disney Plus following WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. ■ 

Disney Plus in November will stream a holiday special based on Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy movie franchise, according to the show's official trailer.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which premieres November 25 on the streaming service, showcases the Guardians, who head to earth on a mission to make Christmas unforgettable for one of its members, according to Disney Plus.

The special stars Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Michael Rooker and Kevin Bacon.

Executive producers for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special include Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Gunn, Sara Smith and Simon Hatt, said Disney Plus.■

Disney Plus Tuesday announced a September 8 premiere date for its live-action retelling of the classic Disney film Pinocchio as part of a teaser trailer for the movie. 

The movie, which will debut as part of the 2022 Disney Plus Day celebration, stars Tom Hanks, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Cynthia Erivo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan-Michael Key, Lorraine Bracco and Luke Evens, according to the streaming service.

Robert Zemeckis will direct the film, which retells the classic story of a wooden puppet who embarks on a trilling adventure to become a real boy. Jack Rapke, Alexandra Derbyshire and Jeremy Johns serve as executive producers of Pinocchio.

Disney Plus said it will announce more Disney Plus Day premieres from Disney, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Star Wars and National Geographic.

Disney Plus on June 8 will debut the Marvel original series Ms. Marvel, the latest in a string of women-led superhero series that have helped fuel the popular genre. 

From WandaVision, another Marvel Studios-produced series on Disney Plus, to The CW’s Stargirl and new shows such as the animated Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, networks and streaming services are offering up supercharged versions of girl power on screen while welcoming diverse, female heroines who look to save the day in front of a wide demo of viewers.

“Though female superheroes are not new to pop culture, today’s audiences want to see portrayals that are more culturally complex and nuanced,” Sarah Unger, co-founder of the Cultique media consulting company and a former Viacom marketing executive, said.

Female superheroes have powered their way across TV screens for decades. In the 1970s, shows like Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman and The Secrets of Isis showcased strong, attractive and charismatic female leads who saved humanity from their evil counterparts.

“When you go back to the history of television to female superheroes like Batgirl in the 1960s Batman series or Wonder Woman in the 1970s, the appealing thing for audiences was the sexiness of women saving the day,” TV industry analyst Marc Berman said. 

Added Unger: “Past eras’ female superheroes were often filtered through the lens of masculine expectation and expression, often being overly gendered or portrayed primarily as love interests.”

Also, animation series such as Cartoon Network’s DC Super Hero Girls looked to reach younger audiences, while theatrical films such as Black Widow and Captain Marvel drew huge box-office numbers. 

More recently, TV shows like Netflix’s Jessica Jones and The CW’s Supergirl and Batwoman have looked to present more three-dimensional and diverse characters that have flaws but still kick butt when the time arises. Shows like Jessica Jones, which follows the complicated life of an ex-superhero-turned-private investigator, owe some of their success and acceptance to the overarching theme of female-driven comedy and dramas launched mostly on streaming services in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Unger said.

Heroines: The Next Generation

“As premium content has featured women-led storytelling models over the past decade, these models serve as precedent for content makers to interpret through the superhero lens,” Unger said. “The success of shows centered around the ‘messy woman’ archetype, as seen in examples like Fleabag, Trainwreck and Broad City, offered permission for content like Jessica Jones featuring complicated female superheroes to be made.”

WandaVision, a Disney Plus original series that began last year, opened up the floodgates for female superheroes and proved that a woman lead could garner both audience appeal and acceptance within the superhero universe. The series, based on the Wanda Maximoff character played by Elizabeth Olsen that appears in numerous Marvel Cinematic Universe films, was the first Marvel-themed series to debut on the streaming service.

The series was a big hit for Disney Plus, winning three 2021 Emmy Awards and getting 23 Emmy nominations. The WandaVision storyline and main character also played a major role in the success of the most recent Marvel-themed theatrical release, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which drew nearly $200 million in box-office revenue in its opening Mother’s Day weekend release (May 6-8).

Other shows — like The CW’s Naomi, created by Ava DuVernay and about a superhero-obsessed African-American teen who discovers she has superpowers of her own, or Disney Plus’s Ms. Marvel, about a Pakistani-American high school student who has to come to terms with her recently discovered powers — feature unique and diverse lead characters that up to now had been rare for the genre. 

“Particularly now in the era that we live in, the appeal of diverse, female superheroes, whether straight or gay, black or white, is trendy and has appeal, particulary to younger audiences,” Berman said. 

The increased diversity among lead heroines allowed writers to be creative in their portrayals rather than staying within a cookie-cutter ideal of how these characters should act and feel, Unger noted. 

“When it comes to female superheroes, the more variety in portrayals of women the content ecosystem has, the less pressure for each individual portrayal to have an outsized role in representation for the genre, thus leading to more creative freedom for creators and talent alike,” she said.

DuVernay, speaking in January at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, said that the ability to tell a more nuanced story about a young, Black female character that happens to have super powers was key for her in developing Naomi. The CW recently said the series would not be renewed for a second season as the network has been quicker to cancel shows as it awaits a potential sale.

“The superhero stuff to me is a cherry on the top knowing that the best superhero journeys are human stories,” she said. “Comics are really personal human stories about the journeys that we all take, written with issues of heroism and magic.”  

More leading female superheroes will be hitting screens later this year. Disney Plus this summer will debut She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name and starring Tatiana Maslany. Disney Channel will also give voice to Marvel’s comic-book heroine Lunella Lafayette in the animated series Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. 

That series, which also launches this summer, centers around a brilliant 13-year-old prodigy and her 10-ton T-Rex, Devil Dinosaur, who work together to protect New York City. 

More to Come

Moon Girl executive producer and Emmy-winning actor Laurence Fishburne said the storyline of a smart, young African-American girl as a superhero provides an important character representation that has not been seen on television. He added that the production team is more than 50% female, which offers a unique voice and perspective to the project. 

“We haven’t seen a hero like Lunella Lafayette before, and I think it’s time that we did,” Fishburne said at TCA. “This is perfect for our time and for what’s going on right now.”

As networks and streaming services continue to roll out superhero-themed series, Berman cautions that the genre in general could eventually reach a ceiling in terms of its appeal. Indeed, The CW last month canceled Batwoman after three seasons and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow after seven campaigns. In 2021, the network ended Supergirl after six seasons. 

“Certainly, the genre brings out young audiences and resonates on social media, but how much of it can the market continue to absorb?” Berman asked.

At The CW’s upfront last month, chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz gave the genre a vote of confidence. “We are still very much in the superhero business,” he told advertisers. 

The continued diversification of characters and storylines could help distributors keep audiences engaged and tuned in, Unger added. 

“As the superhero genre becomes increasingly saturated with pressure to pull in huge box office and viewership numbers in a competitive content landscape, studios recognize that the genre needs to innovate to keep broad audiences engaged — across genders and generations,” she said. ▪️

Disney Plus set a Aug. 17 launch date for its upcoming Marvel Studios-produced original series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law in a new trailer unveiled Tuesday during the company's upfront presentation.  

The nine-episode series stars Tatiana Maslany as  Jennifer Walters, a 30-something attorney who looks to navigate the complicated life of a single woman who also happens to be a green 6-foot-7-inch superpowered hulk, according to the streaming service. 

The series also stars Ginger Gonzaga, Josh Segarra, Jameela Jamil, Jon Bass and Renée Elise Goldsberry, as well as Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Wong and Tim Roth.  

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is executive produced by Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Kat Coiro and Jessica Gao. 

The August premiere of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law follows the June 8 premiere of Marvel's Ms. Marvel original series. 

Disney Plus this week debuts yet another Marvel Studios-produced action series, leading all new show premieres as the calendar rolls into April.

Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight debuts March 30 and stars Oscar Isaac as Steven Grant, a gift shop employee who suffers from dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. The series is the sixth Marvel Studios-produced series, following WandaVision, Hawkeye, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, What If … and Loki.

Among the new shows premiering on April Fools Day are Prime Video’s action dramedy series The Outlaws, and Apple TV Plus’s British-based spy drama Slow Horses.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of March 28 to April 3 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

March 28 – Warrior Women With Lupita Nyong’o (documentary) – Smithsonian Channel

March 29 – The Girl From Plainville (drama) – Hulu

March 29 –How to Survive a Pandemic (documentary) – HBO

March 31 – The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder (comedy) – Paramount Plus

March 31 – Julia (comedy) – HBO Max

March 31 – Moonshot (sci-fi movie) – HBO Max

April 1 – Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood (animation) – Netflix

April 1 – Better Nate Than Ever (musical movie) – Disney Plus

April 1 – The Bubble (comedy) – Netflix

April 2 – Fallen Angels Murder Club: Friends to Die For (drama) – Lifetime

Disney Plus will launch its newest original series from Marvel Studios, Ms. Marvel, on June 8,  the streaming service said Tuesday. 

The series stars Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan (aka Ms. Marvel), a Muslim American teenager and Captain Marvel mega fan who gets super powers like the hero she’s always looked up to, according to Disney Plus.

The first look trailer focuses on the MCU’s newest super hero as she tries to balance high-school life, her family and her emerging super powers, said the streaming service. 

Also starring in the series are Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Nakli, Azhar Usman, Travina Springer and Nimra Bucha.

The series is Disney Plus’ second Marvel Studios-produced series set to premiere in 2022, following the March 30 debut of Moon Night. Ms. Marvel also follows previously streamed Marvel original series WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If ...? and Hawkeye. ■ 

Disney Plus will be adding live-action Marvel television series — including the adult-oriented ones created for Netflix — on March 16, and the streaming service is adding new parental controls to protect younger viewers.

The series include Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders and The Punisher, which were on Netflix, as well as Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which originally aired on ABC.

When those series arrive, Disney Plus said it will concurrently release an update to its parental controls in the U.S. that will prompt all subscribers to update their settings.

"Disney Plus has served as the home for some of the most beloved brands in the industry, and the addition of these live-action shows brings more from the Marvel brand together, all in one place,” said Michael Paull, president of Disney Streaming.

“We have experienced great success with an expanded content offering on Disney Plus across our global markets and are excited to continue that here in the U.S. as well by offering our consumers not only great content with the new Marvel additions, but also a set of features that help ensure a viewing experience most suitable for them and their family,” he said. ■

Disney Plus teased its next Marvel Studios-based series with a new video trailer for Moon Knight.

According to Disney Plus, the series stars Oscar Isaac as Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee who discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with a mercenary named Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt, according to the streaming service.  

Moon Knight also stars Ethan Hawke and May Calamawy. Isaac, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Mohamed Diab and Jeremy Slater serve as executive producers. 

Moon Knight is the fifth Marvel Studios-produced series to debut on Disney Plus, following Emmy-winning series WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki and  Hawkeye. ■ 

The Thanksgiving holiday week will feature several high-profile series and documentary premieres for viewers.

Disney Plus on Nov. 24 will launch its latest Marvel Studios-produced original series,  Hawkeye.  Jeremy Renner reprises his Avengers superhero title role in the six-episode series, which also stars Hailee Steinfeld.

National Geographic on Aug. 28 will bring back its Hot Zone series franchise with a new installment focusing on the 2001 anthrax attacks. Hot Zone: Anthrax stars Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn. 

On Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 25) Disney Plus will debut the Peter Jackson-directed music documentary The Beatles: Get Back, while HBO will continue its Music Box series of specials with the documentary DMX: don't Try to Understand.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of Nov. 22-28 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Nov. 23 -- Black and Missing (documentary series) -- HBO

Nov. 23 -- Klutch Academy (reality) -- BET

Nov. 24 -- Bruised (sports) -- Netflix

Nov. 24 -- Hanna (drama) -- Prime Video

Nov. 24 -- Saved by The Bell (returning series) -- Peacock

Nov. 24 -- True Story (drama) -- Netflix

Nov. 25 -- Ruthless (returning series) -- BET Plus

Nov. 25 -- South Park: Post COVID (animation) -- Paramount Plus

Nov. 25 -- Super Crooks (anime) -- Netflix

Nov. 26 -- How to With John Wilson (returning series) -- HBO

Nov. 27 -- Nash Bridges (drama) -- USA

Nov. 28 -- Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses (game show) -- TBS

Nov. 28 -- The Toys That Built America (reality) -- History

Disney Plus has unveiled the official trailer for its upcoming Marvel Studios-based original series Hawkeye, starring Hailee Steinfeld and Jeremy Renner. 

The video for the series, which debuts Nov. 24 on the streaming service, showcases the arrow-slinging Hawkeye superhero (Renner) and his new protégé (Steinfeld) in a action-packed run through New York City during the holidays.  

"This holiday season, the best gifts come with a bow," is how Disney Plus describes the video trailer. Hawkeye is the fourth live-action Marvel series to roll out on Disney Plus, following WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki.

Disney Plus on Aug. 11 will launch a new animated series from Marvel Studios that reimagines notable events from within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). 

The nine-episode series, What If …?, will focus on a number of heroes from the MCU -- including Peggy Carter, T’Challa, Doctor Strange, Killmonger and Thor -- and place them in circumstances that differ from how they were represented in the Marvel Films, according to Disney Plus. 

Read Also: Disney Plus Sets November Premiere Date for 'Hawkeye' Series 

Many of the MCU actors reprise their roles from the live-action films in the animated series, including the late Chadwick Boseman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Helmsworth, Danai Guria, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Michael B. Jordan, Tom Hiddleston Sebastian Stan, Michael Douglas and Jeff Goldblum. 

The series marks the first animated project from Marvel Studios to stream on Disney Plus, which has already streamed three Marvel live-action series, including Loki and Emmy-nominated shows WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Disney Plus is set to debut Marvel’s Hawkeye on Nov. 24.

Read Also: Streaming Shows 'The Crown,' The Mandalorian,' 'WandaVision' Lead Emmy Awards Nominations 

What If…? Is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Bryan Andrews and AC Bradley. 

Disney Plus will continue its rollout of Marvel Studios-themed series in November with the Nov. 24 debut of Hawkeye, Marvel announced on Twitter Thursday. 

The series -- which stars Jeremy Renner reprising his role as Clint "Hawkeye' Barton,  the bow and arrow slinging superhero from the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- will be the fourth Marvel Studios-produced series to debut on Disney Plus, following Emmy nominated series WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as well as Loki.

Read Also: The Crown,' The Mandalorian,' 'WandaVision Lead Emmy Awards Nominations

Hailee Steinfeld also stars in the series as Kate Bishop, a young archer that appears in Marvel Comics universe. 

Read Also: 'Loki' Season Finale Reveal Series Renewal

Disney Plus will bring back its Marvel Studios-produced series Loki for a second season after revealing the show’s return Wednesday during the final episode of the series' freshman campaign.

The six-episode season, starring Tom Hiddleston, followed the exploits of the God of Mischief character after the events of the theatrical film Marvel’s Avengers: End Game. The renewal message “Loki will return in Season 2”  was revealed at the end of the season finale, which premiered today (July 14) on the service. 

Loki is Disney Plus's third Marvel Studios-produced series, following WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Both of those series drew Emmy nominations, with WandaVision racking up 23 nods — including one for best limited or anthology series — and five for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. 

Read Also: Streaming Shows 'The Crown,' 'The Mandalorian,' 'WandaVision' Lead Emmy Awards Nominations 

The latest Marvel super-hero movie, Black Widow, opened to a potent $218 million across premium subscription streaming and theatrical box channels this weekend. 

According to Disney, the film generated more than $60 million as a $30 "Premiere Access" title on Disney Plus. The studio, however, didn't reveal now many new Disney Plus signups the film generated.

Black Widow also generated $80 million in domestic box office and another $78 million playing in 46 international territories. Notably, that foreign box office haul doesn't include China, a vital Marvel market for which the film still doesn't have a release date. 

For comparison, Universal's ninth Fast and the Furious movie, F9, had the biggest pandemic-era opening, debuting to just over $70 million at 4,179 domestic engagements on June 25. F9, however, didn't have a simultaneous premium streaming engagement. 

Black Widow had the biggest opening since December 2019, when Disney premiered the last Star Wars feature, The Rise of Skywalker.

"You can think of this as equivalent to a $200M domestic opening," tweeted former Disney brand development chief Jon Rogers, noting that $60 million in Premiere Access revenue is, for Disney, equivalent to $100 million-$120 million in global box office receipts because the studio doesn't have to share revenue with theater owners. 

“Black Widow’s strong performance this weekend affirms our flexible distribution strategy of making franchise films available in theaters for a true cinematic experience and, as COVID concerns continue globally, providing choice to consumers who prefer to watch at home on Disney Plus,” Kareem Daniel, chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, said in a statement.

Added Alan Bergman, chairman of Disney Studios Content: “It’s incredible to see audiences enjoying Black Widow after two years without a new Marvel Studios film, and this spectacular opening weekend shows just how eager fans have been to see this beloved Avenger in her own story. There’s no question it’s been worth the wait – Cate Shortland, Scarlett Johansson, and the Marvel Studios team have delivered an exceptional film that continues a legacy of creative excellence as the Marvel Cinematic Universe expands and enters a new era."

A slew of returning series and the latest Marvel Studios-produced show highlight a busy week of show premieres.

On Sunday, Showtime will return two of its popular series Black Monday and The Chi, while HBO resurrects drama series In Treatment after an 11-year hiatus. Also, Netflix brings back a retooled version of its Emmy Award series Master of None. 

 On the premiere front, Hulu on May 21 will debut the latest Marvel-themed original series, Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., an animated show that follows the exploits of a failed supervillain. Also on the 21st, Prime Video will premiere Solos, an sci-fi anthology series featuring a star-studded cast including Anthony Mackie, Uzo Aduba, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway and Helen Miren.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of May 17 to May 23 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

 May 19 -- The Last Days (documentary) -- Netflix 

 May 20 -- Gomorrah (returning series) -- HBO Max

 May 20 -- Too Close (drama) -- AMC Plus 

May 20 -- Special (comedy) -- Netflix

 May 21 -- 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything (documentary series) -- Apple TV Plus 

 May 21 -- The Bite (dramedy) -- Spectrum 

 May 21 -- Army of The Dead (horror) -- Netflix  

 May 21 -- The Me You Can’t See (reality) -- Apple Tv Plus 

 May 21 -- Trying (comedy) -- Apple TV Plus  

 May 23 -- Flatbush Misdemeanors (comedy) -- Showtime 

Disney Plus will debut its documentary special based on its The Falcon and  the Winter Soldier series on April 30.

The documentary, Assembled: The Making of ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, takes a behind-the-scenes look at the six-episode drama series that concluded on Disney Plus last week.

The special follows series stars Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan along with members of the cast and crew as they take fans inside the making of the series. Viewers will learn how the roots of these two characters reach as far back as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and the momentum that has steadily built over their subsequent films, said the streaming service.

Also Read: Streamers Could Draw Oscar Winners' Fans 

Assembled: The Making of ‘The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, is the second documentary special based on a Marvel-based, Disney Plus series following Assembled: The Making Of WandaVision.

Also Read: Disney Plus Sets  Trailer for 'Loki' Series 

Disney Plus Monday offered a video preview of its latest Marvel Studios original series Loki.

The series, which features Tom Hiddleston reprising the character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, follows Loki as he steps out of his brother Thor's shadow in events that take place after the Avengers: Endgame film, said Disney Plus.

Loki also stars Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku and Richard Grant.  The series follows Disney Plus' other Marvel Studios-produced series WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Read also: Disney Plus Now at 86.8 Million Subscribers 

Disney Plus Sunday released the official trailer for its upcoming Marvel Studios-produced series WandaVision.

The series, which stars Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, is the first series from Marvel to stream on Disney Plus, and follows Avengers characters Wanda Maximoff and Vision as they live idealized suburban lives that may not be everything it seems, according to the streaming service.

Disney Plus has yet to set a premiere date for WandaVision. 

Streaming service Disney Plus unveiled the first commercial spot promoting its upcoming Marvel Studios series during last night's Super Bowl telecast.

The 30-second spot featured quick looks at three of its Marvel-based original series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision and Loki. No premiere dates were provided during the spot.

Netflix today (June 4) released a new video promoting the second season of its superhero-tinged original series Marvel's Luke Cage.

The video portrays Misty Knight (Simone Missick) as she grapples with the loss of her arm. She feels powerless and alone, but finds solace in friend, Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick), who -- with some tough love -- inspires Misty to reclaim her power, according to Netflix. 

Marvel's Luke Cage as stars Mike Colter.