The Major Way Our Flag Means Death Just Beat Out Disney+'s Moon Knight
The 2022 television landscape is heating up, with the return of some favorite shows and a handful of wonderful surprises. The long-delayed Season 3 of Donald Glover's "Atlanta" is in full swing, and the critically acclaimed "Breaking Bad" prequel, "Better Call Saul," is about to return for a sixth and final season.
Meanwhile, the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to dominate water cooler conversations with "Moon Knight," the latest in a long line of MCU miniseries released to Disney+. As the superhero franchise continues to be a global phenomenon, it might be expected that a show like "Moon Knight" would be top dog of the current TV crop. It has an A-list lead in Oscar Isaac, who drives a compelling treasure hunt plotline from London to Egypt. But as it turns out, the latest MCU adventure has competition from an unexpected place.
Swashbuckling onto screens in March was the pirate-themed comedy "Our Flag Means Death." Helmed by Taika Waititi, who also plays a starring role as the pirate Blackbeard, the HBO Max Original tells the true story of Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), a member of the British aristocratic class who abandons his comfortable life to become a pirate. While the show is a riotous sendup of pirate stories similar to what Waititi accomplished for vampire lore with "What We Do in the Shadows," it is also a heartfelt tale about love, personal truth, and finding one's purpose.
That recipe clearly resulted in a show that resonated with audiences, as we now know that "Our Flag Means Death" has bested Marvel's "Moon Knight" in one key metric.
Our Flag Means Death is currently the most popular new series in the US
"Our Flag Means Death" is now the most in-demand new series in the United States, narrowly beating out Marvel's "Moon Knight" in early April (via Business Insider). The data comes from Parrot Analytics, a company which measures the performance of television shows based on interest in and audience engagement with a series.
Between its premiere in early March and its finale on March 24, demand for "Our Flag Means Death" increased from 11.9 times more than the average title to a whopping 39.7. Comparatively, "Moon Knight" has captured 34 times more interest than the average. Demand for the pirate comedy seems to have been driven primarily by word of mouth, with fans raving about the show to friends and expressing their love online. Parrot Analytics compared this street-level success to that of the Apple TV+ show "Ted Lasso," which swept the Emmys last year in the wake of its second season. Even with that in mind, end-of-season interest in "Our Flag Means Death" outstripped that of "Ted Lasso" by 42.8%.
That doesn't mean "Moon Knight" can't catch up. The Disney+ show has only just released Episode 3 of its six episodes and may skyrocket in demand as it heads toward a finale, similar to the explosion in popularity "Our Flag Means Death" experienced with its own conclusion. For now, though, Waititi and his merry band of misfit buccaneers are sitting on top of the world.