Why Netflix's Wednesday is the New Stranger Things
Netflix's original series Wednesday is making waves and challenging the legacy of Stranger Things. With impressive viewership numbers and a promising future, Wednesday is poised to take over as Netflix's most important show. Let's take a closer look at why Wednesday is the new Stranger Things and what this means for the streaming platform.
Wednesday vs. Stranger Things: A New Era of Original Series
Wednesday's success seems to imply that it's the new Stranger Things, but it's actually likely to be even bigger. The latter show is approaching its fifth and final season, bringing Netflix's first big original series to a close. Season 4 was released around the same time as Wednesday season 1, and given the Tim Burton series' success, it certainly seems that the streaming platform has its Stranger Things replacement. However, it may not be fair for Wednesday to live in Stranger Things' shadow since it looks like season 2 will achieve far more than the science fiction series ever did.
Collage of Jenna Ortega as Wednesday with the kids from Stranger Things
Stranger Things first took the world by storm in 2016, solidifying Netflix's place in the world of TV. Every subsequent season continued to break records, the young cast became some of the biggest celebrities of the decade, and the thrills of science fiction were reignited in popular culture. Now, Stranger Things is headed into its final season, which means Netflix will need something new to take its place. However, when looking at Netflix's viewing data, it appears that Wednesday has already blown Stranger Things out of the water, and it will only get better with Wednesday season 2.
Wednesday Stranger Things Netflix Viewership Record
Netflix used to calculate performance based on the total hours viewed but now divides this number by a series' total runtime. This allows for a more accurate look at how much a series like Wednesday is being watched compared to Stranger Things since the total duration of the former's seasons is far shorter than the latter (which means Wednesday season 1's 7 hours could never have beaten Stranger Things season 4's 13-hour runtime). Using this new metric, Netflix has revealed that Wednesday season 1 got around 252 million views, while Stranger Things season 4 got 141 million.
Netflix Data Suggests Wednesday Season 2 (& Beyond) Will Be Bigger Than Stranger Things
What's more, Netflix's engagement report revealed that, between January and June 2023, Wednesday season 1 had more hours viewed than all four seasons of Stranger Things combined, which is quite a feat when considering the longer runtimes of the latter series. Since Wednesday is still a baby as far as TV series go, this is a significant indicator that the Addams Family spinoff will have an even more significant impact on Netflix's legacy going forward than Stranger Things did.
All of this isn't to say that the hype over Stranger Things season 5 will be lower than what we have seen in the past for the series. The sci-fi was Netflix's flagship, in a sense, having justified the streaming services' efforts to create new and original content. Ultimately, it will always be remembered for precisely this. However, while Stranger Things used to be the first series to come to mind when considering Netflix's greatest and most important show, the numbers indicate this will no longer be the case. Wednesday hasn't filled Stranger Things' shoes—rather, the mantle has been passed to a show that has learned from its predecessor and will carry the baton even further.
Wednesday Is Now Netflix's Most Important Show
All of this isn't to say that the hype over Stranger Things season 5 will be lower than what we have seen in the past for the series. The sci-fi was Netflix's flagship, in a sense, having justified the streaming services' efforts to create new and original content. Ultimately, it will always be remembered for precisely this. However, while Stranger Things used to be the first series to come to mind when considering Netflix's greatest and most important show, the numbers indicate this will no longer be the case. Wednesday hasn't filled Stranger Things' shoes—rather, the mantle has been passed to a show that has learned from its predecessor and will carry the baton even further.
