Marvel's Disney+ Shows Outperform Nearly Every Other TV Series, Says Kevin Feige

Marvel President Kevin Feige recently hyped up the MCU’s ever-expanding catalog of Disney+ shows and boasted the company’s impressive viewership numbers—which are reportedly higher than even the buzziest shows currently on air.

The MCU has hit something of a slump in recent years thanks to its unimpressive slate of Phase Four cinematic releases. But that hasn’t stopped the franchise from succeeding on Disney+, which remains one of the top names in the streaming business next to Hulu, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime Video.

2021’s WandaVision and Season 1 of Loki shattered streaming records for Disney+, the latter of which became Marvel’s most-watched show of all time, raking up 5.23 billion minutes of viewing time in the months following its premiere. Moon Knight and Marvel’s What If…? were also generally well-received by audiences.

But alas, every silver lining has a cloud—and in the case of the MCU, a big one hovering over its post-Infinity Saga slate. Movies like Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and Eternals (2021) were both devastating critical flops, turning many casual viewers away from the franchise.

Even on Disney+, shows like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law were bombarded with scathing reviews. All the while, Marvel’s reputation was further damaged by an onslaught of accusations against the studio for overworking and underpaying their VFX artists.

Still, in light of the negativity, Feige recently took the time to celebrate Marvel’s accomplishments on the streaming platform during a presentation at the 2023 Disney Upfront event.

During his speech, Feige highlighted the success that Marvel Studios has seen through its efforts on Disney+, claiming that even the MCU’s smallest series garner “two to three times [more] viewers” than the most popular series from competing streamers:

Thanks to Disney+, we’ve expanded the Marvel Cinematic Universe into genre and formats new to us that we haven’t done before. We’ve been able to introduce exciting new heroes and villains, locations and storylines into the MCU. And I’m pleased to share that when you compare our Marvel series to some of the buzziest shows on competitive services, even our smallest series are reaching much more international audience – often two to three times the number of viewers.

Feige’s remarks come on the heels of impressive viewership numbers for Marvel Studios’ movies on the service. Meanwhile, on the TV side, the company continues to reevaluate its release strategy for original shows. One Marvel series impacted by these changes is the Hawkeye spinoff series, Echo, which will mark a first for the studio with its binge-release model.

While it’s difficult to imagine Ms. Marvel getting more views than, say, HBO’s The Last Of Us, Feige has a point in saying that MCU shows perform better than most series on other streaming platforms. It’s impossible to ignore that Marvel benefits from having brand recognition behind its shows, on top of a very loyal, widespread fanbase that returns to watch nearly every piece of new content.

As Marvel continues to adjust its process to gain the most financial and critical success, it’ll be interesting to see if the studio can continue to churn out high-quality projects amid accusations of putting “quantity before quality.” Hopefully, fans can expect to see some improvements in future Disney+ shows moving forward.

Do you agree with Kevin Feige’s remarks about Marvel’s success on Disney+? Let us know in the comments below.