Despite one being set in a medieval fantasy kingdom and the other in a galaxy far, far, away, it’s easy to see similarities between The Mandalorian and The Witcher. Their protagonists are very similar to one another: highly skilled, stoic and deadpan warriors-for-hire in a futile battle eager not to get dragged into complex political situations. And another thing they have in common is that they’re both huge successes: The Witcher is the most-watched show on Netflix and The Mandalorian has successfully launched Disney Plus with a bang.
But it seems that right now at least, Geralt of Rivia is having the last laugh. According to Business Insider (reporting on data from Parrott Analytics), The Witcher has overtaken The Mandalorian as the biggest show in the world. The data company bases its rankings on “demand expressions,” their global, standardized measurement that reflects the popularity of a show.
By this metric, the Netflix series overtook Disney Plus’ crown jewel as the most in-demand TV series in the world (across all platforms) in the week of December 22nd to 28th. The Witcher was the top US program, with 127 million demand expressions, leaving The Mandalorian‘s 115 million demand expressions in the Tatooine dust.
But there may be a bit more to this than meets the eye. The Witcher is available globally on Netflix, which has a massive existing subscriber base. Meanwhile, The Mandalorian is exclusive to Disney Plus, which hasn’t launched in several major markets yet (including the United Kingdom). On top of that, while this week saw the finale of The Mandalorian, the full season of The Witcher has already dropped, which may mean fans have been bingeing their way through the show over the last few days in particular.
In any case, both have proven to be great watches. The Mandalorian was, for my money, the best Star Wars story we’ve had in years and The Witcher captured everything I like about Sapkowski’s books and CD Projekt Red’s games. So, while it might be on top now, it doesn’t need to be a competition.