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Variety reports the premiere episode of Marvel’s witchy new series Agatha All Along has hit 9.3 million views on Disney+.
Described in more dramatic terms, the outlet notes “therefore, the episode was watched for an approximate total of 6.5 million hours, when multiplying views by runtime.” Certainly sounds impressive, right? Well, the report goes on to state its numbers “appear to be roughly on par” with a couple of other Disney+ series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which garnered a noticeably higher 13.3 million views in six days, and the canceled Star Wars: The Acolyte, which also did a hair bit better at 11.1 million views in just five days. However, Variety also admits the series is still “definitively behind” Star Wars: Ahsoka, which reached 14 million views in its first five days.
Suggesting the number 14 to be “definitively” higher than 13.3, yet “roughly on par” with 9.3 may seem ludicrous, but as the article notes, “Disney hasn’t provided statistics measured through a standardized period of time” and so “it’s difficult to make conclusive comparisons.” Bottom line: everyone’s just guessing since no one outside the company is allowed to know how well these shows are doing numbers-wise.
Still, we can only do our best with the information we’re given, and so by this logic, Agatha All Along is outperforming The Penguin, the flagship TV series in Matt Reeves’ “Epic Batman Crime Saga” that premiered on HBO and Max the same day. Describing The Penguin as a “stone cold hit,” Variety states the series “opened to 5.3 million U.S. viewers across all platforms” in its first five days on the market. At that number, The Penguin exceeded the latest season premieres of the network’s other hit shows Succession and The White Lotus, which drew 4.9. million and 4.1 million viewers, respectively. Still, HBO’s comic book offering “falls just behind” the premiere of True Detective: Night Country, which reached 5.7. million viewers in a similar timeframe.
Naturally, this is likely due to Disney being a family affair and HBO aiming for more of an adult audience, even if children are puzzled by Agatha‘s references to jade eggs, Mare of Easttown, and Fleetwood Mac. Viewers across the board were additionally taken back by the parallel nude scenes shared by both Agatha and The Penguin, which were played for very different dramatic cues.
When it comes to both streaming television and comic book-inspired media, the current landscape is a very strange place.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
