Marvel's Most-Streamed 2024-25 TV Series Wasn't Daredevil: Born Again

We just got one of the biggest, most comprehensive windows into modern viewing habits and it revealed some interesting tidbits, particularly as it relates to Disney+. Specifically the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe shows, which have been used to help attract subscribers to the service from the very beginning. However, as this new data shows us, these shows are not all that popular, relative to many other offerings on TV. Beyond that, Marvel's most popular show during the 2024/2025 season was not what one might expect.

Per Variety, Nielsen recently released its first multiplatform ratings report, which looks at ratings for all shows across streaming, cable, and network TV. This is a game-changer as Nielsen only started collecting more streaming data in 2022. For years, they've been the top dog in the viewership ratings game, so having them release more comprehensive numbers is important. What this new report shows is that "Daredevil: Born Again," the much-anticipated revival series that dropped earlier this year, was not Marvel's most-streamed show. Rather, it was "Agatha All Along."

"Born Again" brought in a total of 5.8 million viewers, landing at 92 on the 100 most-watched shows chart alongside "Love is Blind." Meanwhile, "Agatha All Along" brought in 9 million viewers, landing at number 45 just above "Abbott Elementary" and below "NCIS: Origins." For some more context, the number one show overall was Netflix's "Squid Game" with 27.1 million viewers.

There is a pretty big caveat here, however. Nielsen's multiplatform numbers include 35 days of linear TV and streaming viewing, with the report noting that the cutoff for this particular report was early April. "Daredevil: Born Again" didn't premiere on Disney+ until March 4. As such, it had far less time to gain overall viewership compared to "Agatha," which released between September and October of 2024. With more time to account for delayed viewing, who knows where "Daredevil" might have ultimately wound up. 

Flawed though this data may be, it does offer some important context when looking at the overall landscape of streaming in the modern era. Netflix absolutely dominated the top 20, with the streamer earning 10 slots. "Adolescence" landed at number 2 just behind "Squid Game." Netflix is the unquestioned king of the streaming game, everyone else is merely fighting for second place.

As it relates to Disney+, we can see that Disney is spending very big only to wind up with so-so results, relatively speaking. "Agatha All Along" is not getting a second season. While there are several reasons for that, if it had been a big enough hit, Marvel Studios and Disney probably would have fought harder to make it happen. At the same time, "Born Again" is getting at least one more season.

That's in part because Marvel committed to making more episodes than usual out of the gate, with "Daredevil: Born Again" requiring much retooling during the development process, including rewrites, reshoots, and bringing on new directors. There are also shows like "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew," which attracted 6.3 million viewers, yet won't be getting a second season. That's probably because the bar for "Star Wars" is higher than it would be for something like "Win or Lose," for example.

In any event, it all serves to demonstrate just how much streaming has splintered viewership for TV in recent years and just how hard it can be to cut through the noise. There was a time when a live-action Marvel show on this scale would have been must-see TV. Now? It's seemingly tough to capture that once-loyal audience. This is also almost certainly why Marvel Studios will release fewer shows on Disney+ in the future, instead planning to focus on quality over quantity.

"Agatha All Along" and "Daredevil: Born Again" are streaming now on Disney+.