Marvel Television released Wonder Man on Disney+ last month, dropping the entire 8-episode season on the same day, January 27. It's an approach that's drawn criticism from fans who argued that it was "dumped" on the streamer.
How well the series would have worked releasing one instalment a week is hard to say, especially as episodes rarely had a hook at the end. If anything, given the lengthy wait between filming and Wonder Man's eventual streaming debut, we can't help but wonder whether it could have been turned into a movie (filling the lengthy gap between Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars).
Regardless, FlixPatrol has reported that Wonder Man's viewership is slowly declining each week. It currently sits at fourth place on the Global Top 10 TV shows on Disney+ charts; in the U.S., it's moved from second place to fifth, and isn't #1 in any country.
For comparison's sake, Wonder Man started the week at #2 in Canada and is now #7. In the UK, meanwhile, it's gone from #4 to #9. Disaster, right? Not quite.
While it's certainly being framed as a huge problem, this was to be expected with a show that's released in its entirety. After all, people aren't going to choose to watch a series across several weeks when they can get through it in a few days.
Like most streamers, Disney+ doesn't release official viewership numbers. What paints a slightly more troubling picture for Wonder Man is a claim from data tracking company Luminate that says the series had 549.6 million minutes watched over 10 days, compared to 731 million in six days for fellow Marvel Spotlight series, Echo.
That is a significant difference, but less indicative of Wonder Man's success than it is an indication that fans and regular subscribers alike have enough superhero fatigue to no longer find these MCU TV shows an essential watch.
Remember, Daredevil: Born Again was written off as a disappointment by some, but it's already scored a Season 3 renewal ahead of Season 2's launch next month. We don't ultimately know what makes a series a hit in Disney's eyes, and with glowing reviews, there's a good chance that Wonder Man Season 2 is still on the table.
Wonder Man follows aspiring Hollywood actor Simon Williams, who is struggling to get his career off the ground. During a chance meeting with Trevor Slattery, an actor whose biggest roles may be well behind him, Simon learns that legendary director Von Kovak is remaking the superhero film "Wonder Man."
These two actors, at opposite ends of their careers, doggedly pursue life-changing roles in this film as audiences get a peek behind the curtain of the entertainment industry.
All eight episodes of Wonder Man are now streaming on Disney+.