The Book of Boba Fett's premiere viewership was greater than Hawkeye, according to a new report. The Book of Boba Fett is the latest high-profile series to hit Disney+ and the first live-action Star Wars series since The Mandalorian finished season 2 back in December 2020. While Star Wars fans have certainly had plenty to watch over the year with The Bad Batch and Star Wars: Visions, Marvel Studios series have dominated Disney+ since the start of 2021 with WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If...?, and most recently, Hawkeye.
Hawkeye generated headlines as the first two episodes of the series, which premiered the day before Thanksgiving, generated 1.5 million viewers, which was a 40% drop from Loki in the summer and the lowest of all live-action MCU series. Hawkeye wrapped up its season run shortly before Christmas, with The Book of Boba Fett set to premiere the following week, shortly before New Year's Eve. Given the overall popularity of Star Wars and the fan-favorite nature of Boba Fett as a character, the series was highly anticipated by many, and it was expected to draw in big numbers.
In a recent report from SambaTV, via Deadline, 1.7 million U.S. households tuned in for the premiere of The Book of Boba Fett over its five-day premiere from December 29, 2021, to January 2, 2022. That is a 13% increase in viewers from Hawkeye a month before. However, The Book of Boba Fett is 32% below Loki, which was the first major Disney+ series to premiere on a Wednesday where it drew 2.5 million views from U.S. households.
The Book of Boba Fett is just the beginning for Star Wars fans in 2022. The series is expected to wrap up on February 9, 2022, and after that, both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor are expected to premiere sometime in 2022. A second season of The Bad Batch has been confirmed and likely will drop in 2022, and rounding out the year will be The Mandalorian season 3.
A number of factors could have contributed to The Book of Boba Fett beating Hawkeye in viewers. One is the sheer number of MCU entries in 2021. Hawkeye was the middle between theatrical releases of Eternals and Spider-Man: No Way Home, and audiences may have been a bit overwhelmed with so much Marvel Studios material. While Disney has released two animated Star Wars series, the fact that The Book of Boba Fett is the first live-action series in over a year, along with no Star Wars film or game having been released recently, may have increased interest in the series. While Disney+ in 2021 was very Marvel-centric, Star Wars will certainly be a driving force behind the streaming service in the new year.