The benefits of Disney Plus’ episode release strategy

While audiences have gotten used to binge-watching entire Netflix seasons in one weekend, WandaVision and The Mandalorian revel in their weekly release schedule on Disney Plus.

WandaVision is the first of many Marvel Cinematic Universe television series to play on Disney Plus. The content itself is uniquely riveting week by week, and that weekly release strategy even enhances the show’s success. WandaVision particularly embraces its homage to classic sitcom television; a medium that was also meant to be enjoyed by families once a week. And Disney Plus’ first smash hit, The Mandalorian, masterfully disguises its serialized storytelling with an episodic veil. Both the MCU and Star Wars shows champion the format in their own ways and prove that Netflix’s approach will not be the way of the future.

Just with these two original series, one can already get the impression that Disney Plus’ strategy of dropping a new episode every Friday will work better for all their Star Wars and Marvel programming than if they were on Netflix. An obvious point of comparison are the Marvel-Netflix series, which featured 13 seasons for six shows.

WandaVision and The Mandalorian prove Disney Plus is the Way

Daredevil and the rest of the Defenders’ programs were produced by Marvel Television (as opposed to the MCU’s Marvel Studios) and they followed the typical release method for that platform, where the entire season would drop on a single day. 11 out of 13 of the Marvel Netflix seasons had 13 episodes. Viewers had a big weekend ahead when a new season of Daredevil or The Punisher would come out. Casual TV watchers might not feel the need to binge an entire season of Luke Cage in a few days, but for millions of Marvel fans, there was no other way to do it.

There were a few problems with the Netflix release format when it came to the Marvel shows, however. It too often felt like Marvel TV was stretching their tales out over 13 episodes, whether or not there was 13 hours worth of story to tell. Even with a well-written show like Jessica Jones, we were getting a little too much of the inhospitable heroine after 6 or 7 episodes in a row, and sometimes the content in that part of the season would be relegated as filler material. After all, if the intention is for fans to watch several hours of a show in a row, then why not just make the story into a movie instead?

In contrast with Netflix and some other streaming services, Disney Plus releases new episodes weekly and it has been working a lot better for The Mandalorian and WandaVision’s narratives. And most importantly, the scheduling goes a long way toward building excitement for each new chapter. Even if you finish an episode and wish you can immediately watch what happens next, it is not necessarily bad that you have to wait a whole week. It allows every episode to sit with the viewers longer instead of several episodes washing over you at one time, often blurring the lines between what occurred in each.

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This structure also complements shows that organize episodic plots coherently. Many can recall what happens in every single chapter of The Mandalorian because the series is laid out nicely with its classic television setup. And so far, WandaVision has applied a distinct style to all its individual episodes.

With The Mandalorian’s first two seasons and what we have seen in five WandaVision episodes, the weekly release format has made watching those shows a much more enjoyable experience.

Do you think the way Disney Plus drops one new episode a week benefits WandaVision and The Mandalorian or would you prefer the whole season to release at once? Let us know in the comments below!