The black and rotted heart of the Disney Grooming Syndicate’s streaming outlet, Disney+, has been its Marvel and Star Wars programs. The latest data reveals that those widely ridiculed streaming series are dropping in popularity.
“Disney+ is experiencing diminishing returns from its high-profile Star Wars live-action series,” writes the Wrap. “[T]he most recent live-action Star Wars shows … have not been as impactful as earlier releases.”
“The Acolyte and Obi-Wan Kenobi, had lower demand in their first two months compared to the first season of The Mandalorian in 2019,” the report adds.
“Even the latest season of The Mandalorian (Season 3) failed to match the demand levels of its debut season[.]” The Mandalorian’s first season “had a demand peak almost twice the demand peak of the final episode of Season 3.”
Marvel is facing an even steeper demand drop. Between the second quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of this year, demand for Marvel programming on Disney+ “fell from 19% to 13%.”
More:
This trend is also reflected in the platform’s most popular shows. As of Q2 2024, only six of the Top 20 shows on Disney+ were from the Marvel or Star Wars franchises, down from 11 in Q2 2022. Of note, the pace of new streaming releases for both franchises has also decreased at the same time. Meanwhile, Disney Channel shows have been filling the space left by these franchises, with titles such as “Gravity Falls” and “The Owl House” rising in popularity on the platform.
The issue is what it always is: quality. The Mandalorian is a good example. Popular television shows tend to peak in seasons four, five, and six. This is when word-of-mouth combined with the writers’ familiarity with the characters kicks into high gear. The Mandalorian should still be peaking, should be a year or two from reaching its zenith, not dying. So what happened? Easy answer: this. A well-liked adventure show that introduced the iconic Baby Yoda character went woke and became obsessed with identity over storytelling.
Through obnoxious politicking, ham-fisted lectures, child-grooming, smug girlbosses, and a demonic desire to tear down everything that made Star Wars and Marvel cultural phenomenons, Disney has destroyed what were once golden goose franchises that could do no wrong. And Disney will never stop. The Acolyte with its lesbian witches drove the Star Wars brand off the rails and straight into the dirt. No one asked for the “gayest Star Wars yet,” but that’s what Disney’s delivering.
Before the Woke Gestapo took the reins at Disney, the stock price sat at nearly $200 per share. Today it’s worth less than half that.
It all comes down to quality. Woke is the destroyer of storytelling, and if you don’t tell a good story, no one will watch — not even Marvel or Star Wars.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.