Marvel Shows Are Highlighting Current Disney+ Drawbacks

The latest MCU TV shows are unwittingly demonstrating the current limitations of Disney+. Disney's new streaming service has been a remarkable success, perhaps in part because it was released shortly before the coronavirus pandemic, with people soon stuck inside and understandably desperate for a bit of cheer. The highlights are original series created by Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, part of the MCU and Star Wars franchises.

But it's important to understand that streaming services are not directly comparable to normal networks. While viewership of an individual series is important, the crucial metric for success is "engagement." By that measure, for example, The Mandalorian season 2 was particularly notable because, according to third-party analytics, it led to increased demand for Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels as well. Viewers watched The Mandalorian, and then went on to watch The Clone Wars; they didn't simply tune in to one episode and then switch off, but instead remained engaged with the platform as a whole, moving on to other shows. Unfortunately, the latest MCU Disney+ series are demonstrating the limitations of the platform rather than its strengths, showing ways in which it really needs to improve.

Take the example of Marvel's What If..? According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel hopes the animated series will serve as an entry point for new viewers who then go back to watch Captain America: The First Avenger. Unfortunately, from an engagement perspective, the Disney+ algorithm isn't smart enough to encourage viewers to do so after the credits have played, instead pointing people to Loki. In other words, it's not suggesting a movie viewers may not have seen in a while or that ties thematically or narratively into what they just watched, but rather toward a mostly unrelated show that is the most recent release (and thus likely recently watched). This is especially shortsighted with fan bases like Marvel and Star Wars, which are likely to keep up with new shows and movies as soon as they release and are more inclined to go back to an older movie to compare and search for Easter eggs.

Captain Carter raising her fist in Marvel's What If...?

This presents a marked contrast between Disney+ and its biggest rival, Netflix. Netflix is a data-driven company, and its streaming service is governed by algorithms that attempt to ensure every user has a unique, personalized experience. Viewers are divided into roughly 2,000 "taste communities," while all content is extensively tagged in order to ensure the algorithm provides programs and movies that are appropriate for a user's assigned taste clusters. While Disney+ doesn't yet have a library large enough to require quite that degree of sophistication, it should at least be savvy enough to point people to a movie related to the latest episode rather than a TV series they've already watched.

The short Marvel Legends videos point to other limitations with Disney+. These are brief recaps summing up a character's MCU story for new and casual viewers and they end with the list of films the clips were drawn from. In terms of engagement, though, it would be better to close with interactive tiles that take a viewer straight to a movie for viewing; engagement is increased when the number of steps between content is reduced. The episode focused on Agent Carter was especially frustrating as it included clips to a Marvel One-Shot that was not listed at the end nor can it be found by search, Instead, it's attached to Iron Man 3 as an extra feature, but only in some territories. Even Marvel's decision not to reference the Agent Carter TV series is a missed opportunity as a link to the TV show could potentially lead to a viewer watching two seasons.

Disney+ is a new streaming service, but the latest MCU shows have proved there is significant room for improvement. Its algorithms clearly lack sophistication right now, there are gaps in basic functionality, and even basic decisions - such as whether to reference the Agent Carter series - aren't being made with an eye to engagement. Still, hopefully, the Disney+ service will be updated with some of this going forward.

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