Disney+ has allowed the House of Mouse to expand its distribution of content in a big way as it has finally been able to release blockbuster high-budget streaming content without requiring deals with other providers.
It's been no secret that all corners of Disney have taken full advantage of the service with original content releasing from Marvel Studios, Star Wars, Pixar, and more. While new content drops on the service every week, blockbuster series such as The Mandalorian, WandaVision, and other MCU projects have proven to be by far the most popular.
As every new Marvel Studios series continues to debut to even higher popularity than the last, except for What If...?, past ventures hold great popularity even after releasing climactic finales.
With the January premiere of WandaVision, Marvel Studios' streaming initiative got off to a great start as the sitcom premiered to immense popularity. Ever since then, at least one of the studios' projects has continually placed in the U.S.' ten most popular streaming series every week, a streak that has finally been broken.
Marvel Studios Slips in Streaming Popularity
Reddit user thochi-1 recently took to r/MarvelStudios to draw attention to WandaVision and Loki's recent departure from Parrot Analytics' ranking of the most in-demand digital original series in the U.S.
Having remained in the top ten since its January premiere, WandaVision proved itself to have the strongest longevity of Marvel Studios' Disney+ projects so far, holding various positions in the ranking for 36 weeks. The reality-bending sitcom made its final appearance at number nine on the week of September 18 to 24.
Making its departure on the same week as WandaVision, Tom Hiddleston's Loki remained on the list for the shortest period of the live-action outings with only 16 weeks. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier previously left Parrot Analytics' list after placing tenth in the week of July 11 to 17.
The graph below reflects the ranking of each of Marvel Studios' live-action series week-to-week in Parrot Analytics' top ten most in-demand digital-only series in the United States:
Interestingly, the What If...? animated series has failed to touch the top ten list at any point in its nine-episode run making it by far the least in-demand of Marvel Studios' Disney+ outings to date.
As Marvel Studios is fully absent from the list for the first time since January, Star Wars is still holding strong with Visions and The Mandalorian continuing to occupy high positions.
When Will Marvel Studios Rejoin the List?
After the weeks and months of viral speculation surrounding WandaVision, it's hardly surprising to see the reality-bending sitcom holding its popularity for so long. Having debuted around mid-tier positions on the top ten list, the Elizabeth Olsen-led show quickly shot to the top as the finale approached and Mephisto fan theories went wild.
Funnily enough, the week WandaVision finally dropped from the list also happens to include this year's Emmy Awards which saw the sitcom nominated for multiple awards. Unfortunately, this clearly wasn't enough to help it through one more week as viral sensations like Squid Game and Stranger Things took the top spots.
With the impact Loki left on the MCU, it's rather unexpected to see Tom Hiddleston's solo outing seeing such a comparatively quick decline in popularity compared to Marvel Studios' other Disney+ ventures.
Nonetheless, the biggest struggle in popularity has clearly been for What If...? which has yet to rank anywhere in the United States' ten most in-demand digital series. While most would simply explain this through its animated style and disconnection from the wider universe, the Star Wars: Visions anime anthology series managed to debut at fifth.
These two titles should be in rather comparable situations due to their anthology format, animated nature, standalone storylines in a larger world, and reduced marketing compared to live-action counterparts. Perhaps Visions' increased popularity over What If...? stems from the significant market for Japanese anime in the Western world.
While Marvel Studios' existing series are likely to make a few more appearances on the list over the coming weeks, fans probably shouldn't expect to see it back in a big way until Hawkeye premieres on November 24.
Given the series' family-friendly holiday setting and the decade that Jeremy Renner's archer has spent in the MCU, Hawkeye has the potential to outperform most of Marvel Studios' other ventures.
Although toppling WandaVision's 36-week record will certainly be a tough challenge, even for an original Avenger. Since it was the viral speculation and theories that drove the sitcom to such great popularity, perhaps a mysterious series like Secret Invasion may stand a chance at holding the same level of interest.
But until then, Marvel fans can enjoy the entirety of WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and What If...?, exclusively on Disney+.
