Marvel Studios may dominate the superhero genre on the big screen, but Amazon Prime wears television's superhero crown as The Boys was 2022's most popular superhero show.
According to the Nielsen ratings, audiences watched 10.6 billion minutes of Amazon Prime's The Boys, the 11th most-watched original streaming show of 2022. Taking the top spot on the list is Netflix's Stranger Things with 52 billion minutes watched, followed by fellow Netlfix shows Ozark (31.3 billion), Wednesday (18.6 billion), Cobra Kai (16.7 billion) and Bridgerton (14 billion) to round out the top five. Netflix dominates Nielsen's list of top 15 streaming originals, taking 13 spots, including the top 10. Amazon Prime's The Boys and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the latter of which sits in 15th place with 9.4 billion minutes watched, are the only non-Netflix properties on the list.
Despite Netflix's ratings success, the company's co-CEO Ted Sarandos left many viewers scratching their heads recently after claiming the streaming giant has never canceled a successful series. "A lot of these shows were well-intended but talk to a very small audience on a very big budget," he said. "The key to it is you have to be able to talk to a small audience on a small budget and a large audience at a large budget. If you do that well, you can do that forever." His comments come after Netflix canceled popular series such as Warrior Nun, Inside Job and 1899. The streamer has renewed all of their series on Nielsen's list, excluding Ozark and The Last Kingdom, which recently concluded their runs, and the limited series Dahmer and Inventing Anna.
Marvel Shows Miss the List
Over at Disney+, the streamer's superhero shows failed to crack the top 15 original streaming series for 2022. The platform released Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law last year, none of which were able to secure a spot on Nielsen's list despite Rotten Tomatoes crowning Ms. Marvel 2022's best-reviewed superhero show. The last time a Marvel show made Nielsen's end-of-the year list was in 2021 when WandaVision placed 14th with 7.3 billion minutes watched.
Season 4 of The Boys is currently in production at Amazon Prime. The hit series has racked up an impressive list of achievements over its run thus far, becoming the first non-Netlfix show to make Nielsen's top 10 streaming shows during the week of Aug. 31 to Sept. 6, 2020, and the first comic book adaptation nominated for Best Drama Series at the Emmys in 2021. Amazon has yet to set a release date for The Boys Season 4, but Simon Pegg recently announced that he has concluded filming on the fourth season.
In the meantime, fans can stream the first three seasons of The Boys on Amazon Prime.
Source: Nielsen