What Do The Numbers Have To Say For MCU Disney+ Phase 4?

Now that Phase 4 is nearing its end, what do the numbers have to say about its journey, especially on Disney+?

By Mohit Srivastava
October 27,2022
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Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is about to culminate it’s Phase 4 with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Phase 4 was indeed a mixed bag for Marvel Studios. Some of its projects performed way better than they were expected, and some not so much. The same was the case with marvel’s foray into the small screen, with its Disney+ shows. With so many Disney+ shows having been released in such a short span of time, audiences were bound to feel fatigued with so much content. So, let’s try to analyze the statistical data and the number for these marvel Disney+ shows of Phase 4.

Number of Episodes and Runtime

Marvel Shows Runtimes and Episodes

Analysis: MCU’s Phase 4 debuted on Disney+ with WandaVision on January 15th, 2021, and is about to end with the upcoming The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special. Excluding Marvel’s Specials, I am Groot was the shortest of all with only 5 episodes each spanning only 5-6 minutes. It was more like Marvel’s One-shot in earlier days. WandaVision, What If…?, and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law were the longest with 9 episodes each. Fun fact, out of all, the finale of Hawkeye was the longest one, clocking at around 62 minutes. Note: TFATWS stands for ‘The Falcon And The Winter Soldier.’

IMDb rating

IMDb Scores (as of 10/27/2022)

Analysis: According to IMDb, the highest-rated Marvel’s Disney+ offering is Loki which has an IMDb score of 8.2 out of 10. While  She-Hulk: Attorney At Law manages to score only a mere 5.1 out of 10, coming to be the lowest of all. It is, however, surprising to see how high the first Marvel Special – Werewolf By Night, manages to score (7.3) with just a single 50-minute episode. This should give some encouragement to Marvel executives to bring forward more of these Marvel Specials with standalone stories and characters.

Rotten Tomatoes Average Score

RT Average Score (as of 10/27/2022)

Analysis: Rotten Tomatoes, which is considered a more holistic reviewing platform of movies and tv shows, has a slightly different story to tell. According to the average Rotten Tomatoes score, Ms. Marvel scores the highest with an approval rating of 97% while surprisingly TFATWS is at the lowest point score (84%), scoring even lower than She-Hulk: Attorney At Law.

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score

RT Audience Score (as of 10/27/2022)

Analysis: However, if one looks at the Audience’s score on the Rotten Tomatoes website, a new story unfolds. According to it, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law stands at the lowest score (34%) according to the audiences and hence is given the Rotten status. Most of the Disney+ shows score higher than 80% according to the audiences. The animated Marvel series – What If…?, scores the highest audience score out of all (93%).

Worldwide Viewership

Number of Disney+ viewers worldwide in millions as on August 2022 (Source: Statista)

According to the public data website Statista, Loki garnered the maximum number of worldwide viewers (around 2.5 million). While on the other end, the website also suggests that Ms. Marvel received the least number of viewers across the world (around 0.78 million).

However, it is undeniable that MCU content that has debuted on Disney+ since WandaVision has helped Disney+ a lot. It has increased its subscribers manyfold across the world. How shall it help the streaming platform in the future, remains to be seen. Here is to hoping for the best.