By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
The MCU television projects on Disney+ have something of a bad rap among elements of the fandom. Some resent these shows for feeling like homework that you have to watch before you can enjoy the next movie. Others resent these series for playing it safe rather than pushing the creative envelope. However, one blunt reason some fans dislike these shows is that they usually aren’t that good. For every groundbreaking series like WandaVision, it seems like we get ambitious, cinematic failures (like Secret Invasion) or superfluous side quests (like Echo). It’s enough to make you start asking whether the MCU still has the juice or if showrunners are just going through the motions.
Recently, however, something very ironic happened. The Season 2 finale of Daredevil: Born Again ended up with a 9.5 rating on IMDB, meaning that it’s currently tied with the first episode of Loki (“Glorious Purpose”) as the highest-rated television episode of the MCU. Normally, that would be a good sign, one that indicates that Marvel’s writers, directors, and showrunners have learned from past mistakes and know how to give the people what they want. Unfortunately, they learned this lesson too late, as viewership for Daredevil: Born Again has absolutely plummeted from last season.
The Devil Went Down (In Ratings)
The Season 2 finale of Daredevil: Born Again (“The Southern Cross”) was quite the crowd-pleaser. Without getting into spoilers, it involved a shocking showdown as Matt Murdock testified against Wilson Fisk in court. Meanwhile, we got a more traditional showdown when Matt donned the devil horns and teamed up with Jessica Jones to throw down against the various forces of the Kingpin. Audiences loved the whole thing so much that this episode currently has a 9.5 on IMDB, which ties it with the series premiere of Loki. That sounds absolutely great until you take a closer look at some other, very sobering numbers.
As I wrote about before, Daredevil: Born Again had 652,000,000 minutes watched in its first five weeks. That was actually a significant drop from Season 1, which had 1.44 billion minutes watched in the same time frame, indicating that the hit show had lost over 54 percent of hours watched from season to season. However, both seasons pale in comparison to Loki, which had 731 million minutes viewed in the premiere week for Season 1. In other words, Tom Hiddleston’s antihero show had a sizeably larger audience for one episode than Daredevil: Born Again had for more than half of its second season.
Superhero Fatigue No More?
This leads to an obvious conclusion that may spell doom for Marvel. To the audiences who have already tuned out of MCU movies and shows, quality is no longer the issue. Recently, Peter Safran, co-CEO of DC Studios, made the bold claim that superhero fatigue doesn’t exist and that audiences are simply suffering from “mediocre movie fatigue.” It’s a clear swipe at Marvel, one that allows him to imply his rivals have been losing money by simply pumping out crappy content. While that’s obviously true in some cases, the audience drop-off for the highly-rated Born Again (which just gave us the most beloved MCU television episode in years) proves quality doesn’t guarantee clicks.
A big audience drop was expected, but not this big, so what gives? Some fans stopped watching due to the show’s slow-burning pace and the repetitive nature of the constant Kingpin/Daredevil battle. Others are waiting to just binge the season in one go. Of course, some stopped watching the show (legally, at least) because the House of Mouse increased subscription costs right before the new season dropped. The final theory is that superhero fatigue is very real, and the constant glut of new shows and films has made it hard for the average Marvel maniac to care about any one show (no matter its quality).
Hell’s Kitchen Cools Down
Whatever the exact reason, all of this spells trouble for Marvel Studios, which is hoping that Avengers: Doomsday will bring back the halcyon days when each new movie was a critical and commercial smash hit. But we’re living in a post-Endgame world, one in which there’s too much supply and not nearly enough demand. For years now, many have thought as Peter Safran did: that Marvel can regain its former glory by simply making something worth watching. But Daredevil: Born Again’s universally-loved, barely-watched Season 2 is proof that even the best shows and movies may not be enough to restore the most ambitious cinematic universe ever made to its former luster.
a sad twist of fate, or just karma for years of squandered opportunities? That, true believers, is up for you to decide.
