Agatha All Along Ranks #1 in Surprising Marvel Metric

Agatha All Along has pushed its way to the head of the pack in one surprising Marvel Studios‘ metric. The Kathryn Hahn-led series is #1 in continuation rate amongst MCU TV shows. To put it plainly, more people are picking up Agatha All Along and sticking with it week over week than any other show in the Disney+ era of Marvel TV. Variety spoke to the head of streaming, TV and animation for the studio about the fast start for Agatha Harkness’s solo show. A bunch of press has realized that Agatha All Along is the lowest budget Marvel TV show that’s dropped since 2020. The latest Disney+ series has also managed to net 9.8 million viewers in the week it premiered and grow that number over time. That’s crucial for ensuring the show’s place in the pop culture conversation.

All of these developments have to be music to the ears of Disney brass that sounded the call for changes across multiple divisions of the company. Being a huge priority, Marvel Studios decided to streamline their offerings a bit and Agatha All Along gives viewers a sneak peek at what’s to come for the brand in 2025. Expect smaller scale stories on TV, which leads to more budget conscious choices. Brad Winderbaum, executive producer of the latest MCU series, told Variety that Daredevil: Born Again has learned a lot from this approach and is putting it to use already. That should make the show even more of a hit. Across social media, the fervor for Charlie Cox’s next appearance as the hero has only multiplied in recent months.

 In that same conversation, Winderbaum said that this sleeker approach is something they had plans to carry forward. “I can tell you it’s our least expensive show, and I think that was by design. We are looking to make these shows for a responsible cost. Frankly, it gives us a little bit more freedom creatively when we can bring them in at a reasonable budget,” Winderbaum said. “Like [Agatha All Along], for example, the show has minimal CG, way less than we’ve ever done before. It’s mostly practical effects, and I think you can feel it in the show.”

Agatha All Along Just The Latest Example Of Lower Stakes

It’s been a while since Marvel Studios signaled their intention to start hammering into more accessible storytelling. Before Echo released on Disney+, a press event for the brand touted Marvel Spotlight as a way to tell some stories that don’t have the sprawling connections that other Marvel titles on Disney+ before might have. (However, Charlie Cox’s Daredevil cameos and Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin is a major player in the show…) Still, this was the first move that showed fans that Marvel was getting serious about their perceived “homework” problem. That series did better than expected and the company has windmilled this approach into the future. 

“Marvel Spotlight gives us a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen, and in the case of Echo, focusing on street-level stakes over larger MCU continuity,” Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum said in front of a large crowd last year. “Just like comics fans didn’t need to read Avengers or Fantastic Four to enjoy a Ghost Rider Spotlight comic, our audience doesn’t need to have seen other Marvel series to understand what’s happening in Maya’s story.” 

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