With theaters struggling now more than ever, Hollywood has increasingly turned its attention towards streaming services to produce original high-budget content with stars and visuals on par with theatrical releases.
Disney+ has allowed the worlds of Marvel and Star Wars to release more content to fans than ever. This includes live-action original series, animated ventures, and blockbuster movies hitting streaming services with a shorter theatrical window than ever.
With just over two years passed since the service's inception, Marvel has already released five hit series, including WandaVision, Loki, and Hawkeye. Meanwhile, the Star Wars universe released the global phenomenon The Mandalorian and even resurrected its hugely popular animated series The Clone Wars for one final season.
Every series has undeniably attracted its fair share of fans and seen great success, although some clearly more than others. As new data finally allows analysts to compare the Disney+ subscriber growth from day-to-day, which Marvel or Star Wars release has been the biggest so far?
Which Disney+ Release Was the Biggest?
A recent report from The Wall Street Journal revealed the number of new Disney+ subscribers per day since 2020, demonstrating how Marvel and Star Wars releases drive growth to the streaming service.
Looking at the early days of Disney+, the streaming service clearly benefited heavily from the coronavirus pandemic as subscriber numbers saw a significant and lasting spike when lockdown measures were first introduced around the world.
Comparing the subscriber growth surrounding each of the Marvel and Star Wars Disney+ releases, The Mandalorian Season 2 had by far the biggest impact with 118,000 new sign-ups on the October 30, 2021 premiere date.
Among the MCU series, Hawkeye's premiere surprisingly demonstrated the strongest impact on subscriber numbers, with 71k new sign-ups the day after release. Both WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier came close to matching the figure with 70,000 and 63,000 peaks around the respective premieres.
Meanwhile, Loki lagged behind with a disappointing 47,000 new subscribers, while the animated series What If...? dropped even further to only 36,000 on the first weekend after the premiere.
Marvel Studios' only Premier Access release, Black Widow, allowed the title to be purchased by Disney+ subscribers for an additional fee. The day after the launch, July 10, 2021, saw an impressive 80,000 subscribers although the Scarlett Johansson flick was supplemented by the premiere of Monsters at Work as well as the later episodes of Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Loki.
Disney+ Day proved to be a major success for the service with 103,000 new subscribers on the November 12, 2021, event. The special event saw several significant releases, including Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Home Sweet Home Alone, and a look into the future of the MCU that featured multiple new announcements.
However, the subscriber growth attracted by either Marvel or Star Wars is dwarfed by the streaming release of the world-famous Hamilton musical, which garnered a record-breaking 413,000 new subscribers on its release date. Other movie titles not featured on the graph above, including Raya and the Last Dragon, Cruella, and Luca, also had a significant impact on Disney's streamer growth over the past year.
What Will 2022 Hold for Disney+?
From the MCU, Marvel Studios are expected to premiere numerous projects in 2022 including Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special this year. Meanwhile, the Star Wars universe is set to release Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, The Bad Batch Season 2, and The Mandalorian Season 3 in 2022.
Looking at the projects ahead, Obi-Wan Kenobi will obviously produce the strongest subscriber growth. Star Wars fans have been calling for Ewan McGregor's Jedi to return for years now and anticipation for the series is unparalleled by any upcoming Disney+ release.
In terms of the MCU, it wouldn't be surprising to see The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special perform the best. Festive-themed releases typically attract large family audiences, as Hawkeye demonstrated, while anticipation for the space-hopping team's third outing should help propel it towards the top of 2022's Disney+ releases.
Marvel Studios will return to Disney+ on March 30, 2022, with the series premiere of Moon Knight.
