Falcon and The Winter Soldier dropped its first episode this Friday on Disney+. FATWS is the second of the Marvel + Disney series to come out this year on Disney+ (originally it was supposed to be released ahead of WandaVision). With WandaVision being so successful everyone was wondering if TFTWS would have the same amazing storytelling and popularity. FATWS currently has a 93% Tomatometer Rating. And if that isn’t an indication of how popular and well-received the show is, Disney+ has released the viewership numbers from the weekend.
FATWS had the highest streaming numbers on the platform of any original series ever. FATWS outperformed both WandaVision and The Mandalorian seasons one and two. With both WandaVision and FATWS doing well, it would seem that Disney and Marvel have created a winning formula for the small screen. Below is more on the story from Deadline:
Disney+ says that The Falcon and The Winter Soldier ranks as the most watched series premiere ever for the streaming service during its opening weekend, Friday, March 19 – Sunday, March 22, and the most watched title overall for the same time period on a global basis, including in Disney+ Hotstar markets. No viewership numbers were provided whatsoever.
Disney+ did not provide any degree of viewers for Falcon and the Winter Soldier specifically in regards to WandaVision‘s weekend premiere or The Mandalorian‘s season 1 or 2’s weekend premieres. The streaming service only mentioned that Falcon, WandaVision and season 2 of Mandalorian are the streaming service’s top three most watched weekend premieres.
SambaTV however reports that 1.7 million households tuned into Falcon and the Winter Soldier last weekend for at least five minutes besting the 1.6M who tuned into WandaVision‘s opening weekend. SambaTV collects data from terrestrial TVs.
Disney’s latest Marvel TV show had 759k US HHs tune in on Friday, beating WandaVision‘s premiere day tune in (655k households on Friday, Jan. 15), but not quite the 1.0M US HHs that watched The Mandalorian‘s Season 2 premiere on the first day.
Mild spoilers for FATWS below
I watched the first episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier over the weekend. I enjoyed WandaVision and was looking forward to FATWS because I of Bucky and Sam’s bromance. I will not be giving a recap of the episode but you can read one here. I enjoyed the first episode and I am looking forward to the next five. My only complaint is that I thought it was too short and when it ended I felt like I was robbed. In true Marvel fashion FATWS leaves you hanging in the wind. I look forward to seeing what happens with the shield and seeing Sam and Bucky together as they didn’t get any air time together in the first episode. I am happy to see that TFATWS is off to a good start with these numbers. 1.7 million viewers in nothing to sneeze at for a subscription platform. I also like that Marvel and Disney are bringing the same energy and spectacle from the movies to the shows. I feel as if I am watching forty-five minute movies every week. For the longest times Marvel dominated in the theaters and the DCEU dominated the small screen, but it looks like Marvel will definitely rival the DCEU television programs. I will be getting my 2nd dose of Moderna on Friday and I hear you can get flu like symptoms for a day or two. So I will be laid up with my tomato soup watching Falcon and the Winter Soldier and whatever else I can find.
photos via Instagram
I’m not exactly surprised. I think there’s some real interest in the storytelling possibilities with Sam especially, and it seems (so far) like the show isn’t going to shy away from showing us the complicated journey of a black man becoming the next Captain America. (To be clear, I say complicated due to the racism deeply embedded in the foundation of America, not because Sam somehow not worthy.)
I loved it. There are only 6 episodes, so I convinced myself to think of it as two movies. A LOT of story unfolds in any two Marvel movies.
That’s how I plan to watch it. I’m going to wait until all the episodes air and then watch. I waited until WandaVision was a few episodes in but then became impatient waiting a week between the rest. Netflix has ruined me for normal episodic shows lol
Streaming services reporting their “ratings” continues to be hilarious! It’s our most watched series premiere ever….except by these three other metrics where it totally isn’t….but it had the most people who tuned in for at least three minutes….but not the most who tuned in for at least four minutes…
It’s total gibberish!
Anyway, saw the first episode and thought it was good but not great. Enough to bring me back though, so it’s job was done as an opener. Glad it’s only six episodes as that should help keep the story tense and tight.
This is such a dumb metric since there have only been a few other Disney plus shows anyway. Crowing about your third attempt at something being better than the first isn’t an accomplishment, Disney.
I’m not surprised it outperformed WandaVision, I think WandaVision sucked in a lot of new fans (including myself) so it makes sense that the success of that series would directly impact the next series.
That said – considering how few original series Disney Plus has released at this point in time, this one being the “most watched” doesnt necessarily mean a whole lot, but it will be interesting how the statistics shake out for future releases.
(I didnt read the part of the post with spoilers lol).
And WandaVision didn’t have an easily explained premise. In retrospect, it makes sense, but in the lead up, all we saw were these weird sitcoms with Wanda and a supposedly dead Vision. There hadn’t been anything in the MCU before that was like it.
FATWS, on the other hand, is built along the lines of existing MCU content like Civil War. It’s Heroes Being Heroic with Lots of Action and Fighting, something MCU has shown that they can do very well.
So I can see why it’s more popular right off the bat, and also why Disney was going to go with this first, but were stymied due to Covid19 shooting issues.
I think people are going to enjoy WandaVision a whole lot more now that they can binge the series en toto. Being able to see the weird sitcom episodes and then quickly get a resolution as to why the show started in that manner was really helpful for a lot of non-fans in understanding Wanda’s trauma and what the show was really about. I thought it was such a creative way to explore a great character (Scarlet Witch) who was often relegated to background roles in the films.
I”m enjoying the heck out of Disney+, especially during lockdown. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed The Mandalorian, WandaVision and now FATWS.
I like the acting but the script wasn’t believable for me. Just the idea that the Pepper wouldn’t ensure that Avengers had legacy funds was terrible.
@ARB So Wandavision took place only a few weeks after Endgame. If this occupies a similar place in the MCU timeline, and we don’t exactly know yet if it does, Pepper is still likely grieving the death of her husband. And it’s not like she could have planned for the financial well-being of people who were dead for five years during the blip, as Sam was. Yes, she could have provided funds for their families, but considering the state of chaos the world was in for those five years, it may have been difficult or impossible for her to get those funds to the right people.
Right,
FATWS takes place after WV, only a few months after the events of Endgame. We don’t know what Pepper is setting up. Also I imagine Stark Industries was also allocating a lot of funds for things that were destroyed prior to Infinity Wars. Tony once comments to Friday that they are gonna have to buy/rebuild a bldg they destroyed during a fight in Lagos I believe. They set up the Stark relief Foundation to provide relief for casualties incurred after all their battles in NYC, Lagos, Sokovia etc.
Sam has been in the airforce for 6 months since coming back from the Snap so it’s over 6 months since the events of Endgame happened.
Not surprised and I loved it. Disney/Marvel giving tv shows to the Avengers that didn’t get a lot of screen time in the movies has honestly been one of their best decisions.
Love the angle of Sam having to come home after being gone for 5 years and having to deal with the fallout of not only being around for his widowed sister and his nephews, but also the “loss of income” and being denied a loan based on that, even as Avenger. And Bucky has always been a favorite character of mine, having to grapple with being a hydra mind-controlled slave/assassin and even though Shuri helped with the brain washing, no one could really take away the memories of everyone he’s had to kill and struggling with the guilt and PTSD.
I will happily watch anything with Sebastian Stan or Anthony Mackie. ***fanning myself before I swoon***
Even aside from the eye candy, the premiere was really good. I liked Wandavision but the first 2-3 episodes were really slow. It feels like TFATWS is getting up to speed a bit quicker.
I just devoured WandaVision. I thought it was spectacular. Same with the Mandalorian. I am so excited for FATW.
Sounds like it, like the Mandalorian, is set up like the old Saturday morning serials. A cliffhanger every week.