The force is strong with Disney+’s enormous investment in Star Wars and Marvel – with titles from both franchises leading the platform’s most-watched list.
The Mandalorian and Loki occupy the top spots for the streaming giant’s entire original programming output, according to American data-gathering service Nielsen.
Findings showed Disney+’s very first original series, which centred on a lone Star Wars bounty hunter hired to retrieve ‘The Child’, was watched for a staggering 14.5 billion minutes, with 8.4 billion of those minutes viewed in the two months after The Mandalorian Season 2 premiered.
But Loki, which chases up a loose end left in Marvel’s Avengers : Endgame, has a higher average watch time per episode at 872 million minutes each, due to its shorter season.
In fact, Loki outguns all other Marvel shows in minutes watched, racking up a total of 5.23 billion – with the popular series holding the enviable title of being the first and only Marvel show to break the billion minutes watched mark in a single week.
According to The Hollywood Reporter’s analysis of Nielsen’s 2021 year-end report, The Mandalorian stands head and shoulders above other shows across both franchises.
The following list compares both seasons of The Mandalorian with the other Star Wars and Marvel live-action shows.
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Most-watched Star Wars and Marvel live-action shows on Disney+
1. The Mandalorian Season 2 (8.38 billion minutes watched)
2. The Mandalorian Season 1 (5.42 billion minutes watched)
3. Loki Season 1 (5.23 billion minutes watched)
4. WandaVision (4.8 billion minutes watched)
5. The Book of Boba Fett (4.4 billion minutes watched)
6. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Season 1 (4.15 billion minutes watched)
7. Hawkeye (3.46 billion minutes watched)
None of the above Marvel shows have a second season yet, with Loki’s return set for summer 2023.
The glowing figures will bring much joy to the Disney camp.
There was a lot riding on The Mandalorian; the show was the very first Disney+ original series, launching alongside the streaming app back in November 2019.
A riotous success, it was undoubtedly instrumental in the platform attracting some 26.5 million worldwide subscribers in its first quarter.
Both Marvel and Star Wars continue to flex their considerable muscles for Disney+ , with Moon Knight launching to considerable acclaim back in March.
Ms Marvel debuts on June 8, while the highly-anticipated Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Ewan McGregor, drops on Friday (May 27) this week.
