Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness in Marvel Studios’ WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Suzanne Tenner. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Marvel is attempting to find its mojo on streaming after a wonderful win at the box office. Deadpool and Wolverine was a thunderous success with audiences and with profit. But the film which was largely crafted by outsiders (Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy) is not the template that Marvel has been using for the last many years. Secret Invasion, The Marvels and The Eternals are a better representation of what Marvel has been as of late. And though there are strong rumors that Kevin Feige is working hard to right the ship, Agatha All Along is another show that fits neatly into what Disney’s superheroes have been like for the last couple of phases.
(L-R): Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone), Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), Mrs. Hart/Sharon Davis (Debra Jo Rupp), and Ali Ahn (Alice Wu-Gulliver) in Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 MARVEL.
Unfortunately for Disney and Marvel, that also means the results are looking like the failures they’ve been dealing with since 2020.
That’s not to say you would easily detect that Agatha All Along is a ratings disaster on Disney Plus. Variety compares Agatha All Along to Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Acolyte. One of those received a second season — one was canceled.
The outlet noted, “The first episode of Agatha All Along hit 9.3 million views on Disney+ in its first seven days of streaming.”
The first episode of “Agatha All Along” hit 9.3 million views on Disney+ in its first seven days of streaming.
Get the details here: https://t.co/UnNt63tG5l pic.twitter.com/teIFqJB7PZ
— Variety (@Variety) September 26, 2024
In another post, Variety stated, “The opening of Agatha All Along appears to be roughly on par with that of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which debuted with 13.3 million views in six days, as well as The Acolyte, the Star Wars series that hit 11.1 million views in five days.
The opening of #AgathaAllAlong appears to be roughly on par with that of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” which debuted with 13.3 million views in six days, as well as “The Acolyte,” the Star Wars series that hit 11.1 million views in five days. https://t.co/UnNt63tG5l
— Variety (@Variety) September 26, 2024
For a keen observer, it’s obvious that Variety (and perhaps Disney) are using different measurements without clearly denoting the situation. Agatha All Along is measured over seven days. The Acolyte was measured in five days. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a completely different case that we will set aside for now because Percy Jackson opened weakly and then grew its audience significantly. For neither The Acolyte nor Agatha All Along does that seem to be the case.
If we divide the viewership measured for The Acolyte by the number of days for which we are given, we discover that The Acolyte averaged 2.22 million views per day in its first five days. If we divide the viewership measured for Agatha All Along by the number of days for which we are given, Marvel’s new series only picked up 1.32 million. In other words, per diem, Agatha All Along only nabbed 59.5% of The Acolyte’s viewership for the days which we have been provided.
(L-R): Teen (Joe Locke) and Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) in Marvel Television’s AGATHA ALL ALONG, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2024 MARVEL.
Frankly, that’s absolutely terrible and puts on full display why it has already been stated the show likely will not be given a second season. The only thing we wish is that the media would stop obfuscating the real results for media properties and give the data in a forthright manner. Agatha All Along is doing very poorly, despite what the desired corporate narrative might be.
