Disney+’s ‘Moon Knight’ Edges Out HBO Max’s ‘Peacemaker’ for Most In-Demand Premiere | Charts

Disney+’s “Moon Knight” was the most in-demand U.S. premiere of the first quarter, according to Parrot Analytics‘ data, which takes into account consumer research, streaming, downloads and social media, among other consumer engagement.

“Moon Knight” scored in the exceptional category with 33.4 times the average demand of all other series in the U.S. during its first 30 days. It’s especially impressive considering that “Moon Knight” had one of the later premieres in the quarter.

Still, it was HBO Max that scored two of the top three premieres in Q1, with “Suicide Squad” series “Peacemaker” and pirate comedy “Our Flag Means Death” boasting 30.8 times and 29 times the average demand of all other series in the U.S., respectively.

The data tells us that “Moon Knight” and “Peacemaker” were instantly popular, but “Our Flag Means Death” gradually grew in demand over its first month. The Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby-starring show has maintained that demand since its season finale on March 24.

“Our Flag Means Death” maintained stronger demand post-season than “Peacemaker” and “Moon Knight,” but the series found its audience via strong word of mouth, especially within the LGBTQ community. “Peacemaker” and “Moon Knight,” both driven by strong IP (DC Comics and Marvel, respectively), started out with very strong audiences and maintained strong demand but didn’t reach the same level of consistency that “Our Flag Means Death” saw.

Also sitting within the top 10 is Peacock’s “Bel-Air,” one of the streamer’s most in-demand original series, and a top contributor to subscriber growth this most recent quarter, according to parent company Comcast. The drama, which is a reimagining of the classic Will Smith sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” is the type of high customer acquisition series that Peacock needs as it scales its platform.

Netflix also has two series on the top 10 list — Shonda Rhimes’ “Inventing Anna” and the South Korean thriller “All of Us Are Dead” — but that number is down compared to recent quarters. As competition increases and subscriber attention is taken up by other series, Netflix is finding a more difficult landscape to compete in. Finding international originals that can land with global audiences, like “All of Us Are Dead,” and finding series that can create a cultural zeitgeist moment, like “Inventing Anna,” becomes even more crucial.

Rounding out the top 10 is Paramount+’s big franchise addition, “Halo.” Based on the bestselling video game of the same name, the series’ strong performance reiterates the importance of owning and exclusively housing top IP from across games, comics and books. “Halo” can become a top subscriber acquisition title, which like NBCUniversal’s Peacock, is something Paramount+ needs to compete against giants like Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max.