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Let the streaming war commence! The Boys and The Mandalorian both premiered new seasons this year, and it turns out that The Boys season 2 episode 1 was watched by more people on its opening weekend than The Mandalorian season 2 episode 1 (again on its opening weekend).
Amazon Prime Video’s irreverent superhero comedy was back with a bang this September, on a weekly release schedule rather than the entire season dropping at once (as season 1 did). It got 7.2% of the streaming share on its opening weekend, according to Reelgood.
Meanwhile, The Mandalorian seasno 2 started on October 30th with a Western-infused episode called "The Marshal", co-starring Timothy Olyphant. Over its first weekend, it netted 5.7% of the streaming share.
That number might seem low compared to The Boys, and it just falls short of another big series too – Stranger Things season 3 grabbed 5.8% of the streaming share across its opening weekend. In comparison, The Queen’s Gambit scored 4.3% on its opening weekend, and when The Mandalorian first premiered back in 2019 in the US, it grabbed 4.4% of the streaming share on that first weekend.
Basically, this means The Boys season 2 had a stronger start than The Mandalorian, which, considering how much of an Internet star Baby Yoda is, might come as a surprise. There are a few factors for why this might be, though, like Disney Plus offering a more niche content slate than Amazon Prime Video, or The Mandalorian returning Halloween weekend when everyone was probably busy marathoning spooky movies.
Whatever the reason is for The Mandalorian season 2 not quite pulling in as many viewers as The Boys and Stranger Things, we don’t doubt that Mando is still going to generate a lot of buzz – especially after that cliff-hanger at the end of the first episode and the upcoming appearance of Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano.
While you wait for the next instalment of The Mandalorian, check out our list of the best shows on Disney Plus and the best Netflix shows to watch now.
