WandaVision drew significant buzz when it premiered in January for being Marvel Studios’ first Disney+ series, and the first pandemic-era piece of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) content in general.
But the series has another, decidedly less flattering distinction: it was the most pirated show of 2021, according to piracy news site TorrentFreak. It wasn’t the only MCU show to make the site’s top 10, though:
- WandaVision (Disney+)
- Loki (Disney+)
- The Witcher (Netflix)
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+)
- Hawkeye (Disney+)
- What If…? (Disney+)
- Foundation (Apple TV+)
- Rick and Morty (Adult Swim/StackTV in Canada)
- Arcane (Netflix)
- Wheel of Time (Amazon Prime Video)
It’s important to note, however, that U.K. piracy monitoring firm Muso says the “the overwhelming majority” of internet piracy comes from streaming sites, not torrent download sites like TorrentFreak. For context, 94 percent of piracy activity was on streaming sites in the first half of 2021.
Further, TorrentFreak only accounts for single episode torrents, which doesn’t paint a completely clear picture. While this metric works better for weekly release shows like WandaVision, Netflix still drops entire seasons simultaneously, which may skew numbers. To that point, TorrentFreak said Netflix’s Casa de Papel (AKA Money Heist) may have placed fifth otherwise, while Squid Game — Netflix’s breakout 2021 hit — would have made the list as well.
Still, it’s interesting to see what shows are being torrented the most, especially with respect to something like Foundation, which seems to have wrapped its first season with generally positive reviews but minimal public fanfare.
Looking ahead to 2022, it’s likely that Disney+ will fill at least a few spots on TorrentFreak’s next list between the likes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk and Moon Knight.
Image credit: Marvel Studios
Source: TorrentFreak
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