Dasher10
I'm like Deadpool IRL
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2013
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https://www.wired.com/story/netflix-the-defenders-audience-data/
Presumably too late for Jessica Jones and Luke Cage to change course but what can we learn from this type of data about what Daredevil and Iron Fist can do to improve their ratings?
People who watch Jessica Jones typically also like comedies and documentaries as well as dramas with female leads. I feel like Jessica Jones is in a good place now since she's snarky enough for the people who like comedies but also morose and damaged enough for the people who like dramas and documentaries.
Luke Cage appeals to people who enjoy stories about injustice. There's a lot of people who watch Luke Cage who like dystopian fiction. Also some comedy fans in there who enjoy Shameless. I'm guessing that Luke Cage Season 2 is going to go darker but also funnier. Presumably try to strike a tonal balance between the social commentary and crime stories from the first half of season 1 and the blaxspoitation throwbacks from the second half.
Daredevil fans appear to like their stories pitch black with lots of moral ambiguity and melodrama. It's already a dark series but IMO, it really needs to go darker since that's where the audience is. Born Again is already confirmed for Season 3 and that's good since it means that Marvel understand their audience.
Iron Fist appears to have built an audience out of fans of people who like comedies. I'm guessing that the poor fight scenes, overacting and inconsistent characterization turned it into a cult classic. Thankfully, when he's given the right material, Finn Jones is actually a really good comedic actor. If Marvel are serious about fixing Iron Fist, then one thing that they must do is make it dead funny. We know who didn't like the first season of Iron Fist. Fans of martial arts and superheroes were brutal towards the series. Martial arts fans compared the series negatively to Into the Badlands. Superhero fans had harsh words to say about Iron Fist when compared to other series by Marvel Studios. Ultimate Beastmaster fans liked the series so I'm guessing that people who like martial arts gave it a shot but people who like martial arts fiction didn't. But the important thing to take away is to lighten the tone. Make it a genuinely funny series about a happy-go-lucky superhero with a glowing fist. Iron Fist going forward needs to be tonally different from the other series because that's what the audience wants. Better martial arts would win over the action fans who truly want to see some great fight scenes. And a stronger narrative and more consistent characterization would win over the superhero fans since superhero stories are really just soap operas + fantastic elements.
Punisher is the wild card here but I get the feeling that people who like a lot of 80s and 90s action films (particularly the work of John McTiernan and John Woo) and currently watch a lot of direct to video action flicks will be the core audience. Also fans of 24 and Strike Back.
As for potential future series, here's who I think Marvel should tailor their series to.
Moon Knight - Psychological thriller that often ventures into outright psychological horror. Aim it at fans of Brazil, Twin Peaks, Zardoz, Fight Club, Lost, Antichrist, Cemetery Man, The Machinist, Fringe, Black Swan, The X-Files, Jacob's Ladder, The Mothman Prophecies, Battlestar Galactica, Eraserhead, Legion and Videodrome. Also people who watch paranormal documentaries. Go full David Lynch + action scenes. Make it absolutely bizarre and appeal to people who like mind-bending entertainment. Moon Knight needs to be genuinely strange and often frightening with the audience questioning what's real and what's not. Stuff like playing another show's opening credits to start an episode with just to mess with people is what Moon Knight should be. Anything shown on screen could be reconnected as one of Marc's hallucinations. And jump scares that come out of nowhere. And there's a market for that kind of stuff.
Elektra - Political thriller. Market it at people who like shows like Homeland, 24, Dollhouse, Nikita and House of Cards. An Elektra solo series would be strangely relevant right now since there's a current controversy over Russia interfering with the United States Presidential Election so a President who's also one of the leaders of The Hand would be really cool to see. Film it in Washington DC and get Elektra to feel unique among Marvel Netflix series since no other series seems to hit fans of political thrillers yet.
Ghost Rider - Supernatural Horror. Aim it at John Carpenter fans as well as fans of Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story, Metalocalypse, The Devil's Rejects, Supernatural, The Walking Dead and various slasher movie franchises. Extreme metal soundtrack + often gruesome horror imagery + motorcycles and biker culture + a series where the slashers are the protagonists. I think that there's a market for people who want to see Jason Vorhees or Michael Meyers as a protagonist with redeeming values. Plus there are multiple riders + their family members so you'd have a strong sense of family throughout the series which would be a good way to ground the series and give characters something to do while their skulls aren't on fire.
Blade - Vampire series + detective fiction. Great for fans of True Blood, The Strain, The Vampire Diaries, Buffy and True Detective. The vampires in NOLA part is already perfect for fans of True Blood. And when you make it about a vampire hunter, then you wind up with a slow-burning detective story that will climax in each season with a swordfight as Blade learns who his prey is and tracks them down over multiple episodes.
Shang-Chi - Hong Kong martial arts + gangster story. Great for fans of Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen as well as people who like The Sopranos, Magic City and Boardwalk Empire. Hong Kong action films are usually made for the cost of a TV episode anyway. There's tons of martial arts stuff that goes direct to video and it would be a great way for Netflix to get a foothold in Asian markets.
Presumably too late for Jessica Jones and Luke Cage to change course but what can we learn from this type of data about what Daredevil and Iron Fist can do to improve their ratings?
People who watch Jessica Jones typically also like comedies and documentaries as well as dramas with female leads. I feel like Jessica Jones is in a good place now since she's snarky enough for the people who like comedies but also morose and damaged enough for the people who like dramas and documentaries.
Luke Cage appeals to people who enjoy stories about injustice. There's a lot of people who watch Luke Cage who like dystopian fiction. Also some comedy fans in there who enjoy Shameless. I'm guessing that Luke Cage Season 2 is going to go darker but also funnier. Presumably try to strike a tonal balance between the social commentary and crime stories from the first half of season 1 and the blaxspoitation throwbacks from the second half.
Daredevil fans appear to like their stories pitch black with lots of moral ambiguity and melodrama. It's already a dark series but IMO, it really needs to go darker since that's where the audience is. Born Again is already confirmed for Season 3 and that's good since it means that Marvel understand their audience.
Iron Fist appears to have built an audience out of fans of people who like comedies. I'm guessing that the poor fight scenes, overacting and inconsistent characterization turned it into a cult classic. Thankfully, when he's given the right material, Finn Jones is actually a really good comedic actor. If Marvel are serious about fixing Iron Fist, then one thing that they must do is make it dead funny. We know who didn't like the first season of Iron Fist. Fans of martial arts and superheroes were brutal towards the series. Martial arts fans compared the series negatively to Into the Badlands. Superhero fans had harsh words to say about Iron Fist when compared to other series by Marvel Studios. Ultimate Beastmaster fans liked the series so I'm guessing that people who like martial arts gave it a shot but people who like martial arts fiction didn't. But the important thing to take away is to lighten the tone. Make it a genuinely funny series about a happy-go-lucky superhero with a glowing fist. Iron Fist going forward needs to be tonally different from the other series because that's what the audience wants. Better martial arts would win over the action fans who truly want to see some great fight scenes. And a stronger narrative and more consistent characterization would win over the superhero fans since superhero stories are really just soap operas + fantastic elements.
Punisher is the wild card here but I get the feeling that people who like a lot of 80s and 90s action films (particularly the work of John McTiernan and John Woo) and currently watch a lot of direct to video action flicks will be the core audience. Also fans of 24 and Strike Back.
As for potential future series, here's who I think Marvel should tailor their series to.
Moon Knight - Psychological thriller that often ventures into outright psychological horror. Aim it at fans of Brazil, Twin Peaks, Zardoz, Fight Club, Lost, Antichrist, Cemetery Man, The Machinist, Fringe, Black Swan, The X-Files, Jacob's Ladder, The Mothman Prophecies, Battlestar Galactica, Eraserhead, Legion and Videodrome. Also people who watch paranormal documentaries. Go full David Lynch + action scenes. Make it absolutely bizarre and appeal to people who like mind-bending entertainment. Moon Knight needs to be genuinely strange and often frightening with the audience questioning what's real and what's not. Stuff like playing another show's opening credits to start an episode with just to mess with people is what Moon Knight should be. Anything shown on screen could be reconnected as one of Marc's hallucinations. And jump scares that come out of nowhere. And there's a market for that kind of stuff.
Elektra - Political thriller. Market it at people who like shows like Homeland, 24, Dollhouse, Nikita and House of Cards. An Elektra solo series would be strangely relevant right now since there's a current controversy over Russia interfering with the United States Presidential Election so a President who's also one of the leaders of The Hand would be really cool to see. Film it in Washington DC and get Elektra to feel unique among Marvel Netflix series since no other series seems to hit fans of political thrillers yet.
Ghost Rider - Supernatural Horror. Aim it at John Carpenter fans as well as fans of Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story, Metalocalypse, The Devil's Rejects, Supernatural, The Walking Dead and various slasher movie franchises. Extreme metal soundtrack + often gruesome horror imagery + motorcycles and biker culture + a series where the slashers are the protagonists. I think that there's a market for people who want to see Jason Vorhees or Michael Meyers as a protagonist with redeeming values. Plus there are multiple riders + their family members so you'd have a strong sense of family throughout the series which would be a good way to ground the series and give characters something to do while their skulls aren't on fire.
Blade - Vampire series + detective fiction. Great for fans of True Blood, The Strain, The Vampire Diaries, Buffy and True Detective. The vampires in NOLA part is already perfect for fans of True Blood. And when you make it about a vampire hunter, then you wind up with a slow-burning detective story that will climax in each season with a swordfight as Blade learns who his prey is and tracks them down over multiple episodes.
Shang-Chi - Hong Kong martial arts + gangster story. Great for fans of Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen as well as people who like The Sopranos, Magic City and Boardwalk Empire. Hong Kong action films are usually made for the cost of a TV episode anyway. There's tons of martial arts stuff that goes direct to video and it would be a great way for Netflix to get a foothold in Asian markets.
