Marvel Studios is having a heck of a year and it's essentially only beginning for them. The Marvel Cinematic Universe may have had a few ups and downs over the past couple of years (which is more downs that it is used to) but it's on the up-and-up this year. Spider-Man: Brand New Day - which is co-produces with Sony Pictures - has made history as the third-highest-grossing movie of all time, reviving buzz in the MCU ahead of what might just be its biggest movie ever.
Yes, the Multiverse Saga may be preparing to bow out with its upcoming titles, but those titles are sure to be major hits. VisionQuest arrives this October (allowing the franchise to continue its critically-acclaimed WandaVision Trilogy) and Avengers: Doomsday will wrap 2026 up for them in a huge way. And it's largely because of that movie - and Spider-Man - that the MCU has once again made Disney Plus history.
Marvel Studios has its biggest ever month on Disney Plus after 'Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday' debut
Marvel Studios enjoyed its biggest ever month on the Disney Plus streaming service in August, recording over 420 million hours watched in the space of that month. The reveal comes from The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit, who announced via social media that Disney is seeing a major lift due to both the upcoming release of Avengers: Doomsday and the recent success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (which was released in movie theaters on July 25).
Needless to say, this is an incredible accomplishment and a real reminder of how the MCU remains the undefeated champion of the movie industry almost two decades after its inception. It's also a much-needed victory for Marvel Studios after a number of recent theatrical released underperformed due to the oveexposure of the MCU via its abundance of Multiverse Saga movies and Disney Plus original shows - with some of the 2023 installments specifically receiving a lot of criticism.
The success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day has certainly reinvigorated interest in the legendary franchise ahead of this December's Avengers: Doomsday, but it is likely the buildup to that film that has seen such a monumental increase in viewing hours for the franchise. After all, that movie will mark the culmination of the Multiverse Saga (or at least the beginning of that culmination ahead of next year's Avengers: Secret Wars), meaning that fans have already started rewatching the titles leading up to it. While that likely includes the entire Multiverse Saga, some will likely go back and rewatch the entire MCU from the start, too.
Marvel Studios has also attempted to make the rewatch easier / more streamlined for audiences, hand-picking specific titles from both the Infinity Saga and the Multiverse Saga that are relevant to the upcoming movie in its "Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday" watch-list. And with that, it should come as no surprise to see that projects featured on that watch-list have already begun dominating the daily Top 10 charts.
2012's The Avengers, 2018's Avengers: Infinity War, and 2019's Avengers: Endgame have all started appearing in the Top 10 daily movies chart on the platform (alongside 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron which wasn't specifically referenced on that list), while Disney Plus' own Loki has been resurfacing on the Top 10 TV shows chart despite not releasing any new episodes since 2023. Yep, you can see the impact of Avengers: Doomsday already.
Speaking of Disney Plus, the platform's next Marvel show VisionQuest is coming out in October and that could also have had an impact on the MCU's increased watch-hours. After all, it's a sequel to 2021's WandaVision and 2024's Agatha All Along, meaning that fans are likely watch or rewatching those ahead of the final chapter in that trilogy. Moreover, the upcoming return of James Spader's Ultron may have resulted in the aforementioned increased watches of 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron (as well as the fact that that movie is actually Vision's origin story).
Needless to say, the buzz for Avengers: Doomsday is increasing by the bucket-load with each and every week. The releases of those two trailers likely influenced audiences to get caught up on the franchise - especially those who may have fallen off during its more directionless era a few years ago - and the recent success story of Spider-Man: Brand New Day was the catalyst they needed to take notice that, yes: The MCU is so back.
If we're being honest, however: It never really left.
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in movie theaters on December 18, 2026.
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