For over a decade now, Marvel Studios has been dominating the theatrical landscape having released blockbuster hits almost every year since its inception. With the launch of Disney+, the studio has taken its talents to TV having already released five series in its first year, all of which have attracted viral attention each week with every new episode.
Kicking things off with WandaVision in January, the reality-bending sitcom was a force to be reckoned with as speculation continued with every new episode and wild theories built all the way towards the finale.
Since then, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If...?, and Hawkeye have all attracted great popularity and acclaim among fans with each generating their own insane theories from wild cameo dreams to hopes of MCU-altering consequences.
With the year coming to an end and Marvel Studios' 2021 complete, it's really up for debate as to what the biggest thing to come out of the MCU was this year. Although, recently release statistics make it clear what was the most popular among pirates.
WandaVision Becomes Most Pirated Show of 2021
A recent article from TorrentFreak revealed WandaVision was the most pirated TV series of 2021 according to data obtained from BitTorrent - a file-sharing outlet often used for piracy.
All five of Marvel Studios' 2021 Disney+ series were among the ten most pirated shows of the year alongside The Witcher, Foundation, Rick and Morty, Arcane, and Wheel of Time.
It should be noted that these statistics are based solely on download numbers from one specific source of illegal distribution and don't factor in pirated streams online or downloads from other outlets.
The full list can be viewed below:
- WandaVision
- Loki
- The Witcher
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
- Hawkeye
- What If...?
- Foundation
- Rick and Morty
- Arcane
- Wheel of Time
Marvel Studios Leads Piracy in 2021
With Marvel Studios' five Disney+ series to date making it into the six most pirate shows of the year, the MCU once again demonstrates its global popularity, even if it isn't exactly the most fortunate way of doing so.
WandaVision taking the top spot raises a particularly interesting point as despite being the least viewed of the series on Disney+ itself, it has arguably been the most popular among the fandom. The series' popularity among piracy outlets probably comes down to the lower Disney+ subscriber uptake at the time.
The piracy statistics continue to prove the reduced popularity of What If...? compared to Marvel Studios' live-action series as, even having only just concluded, Hawkeye still managed to surpass it in illegal downloads.
All five of Marvel Studios' Disney+ series to date are streaming now, exclusively on Disney+.
