My Disney+ Series Rankings

I really like Disney+, it’s the only paid streaming provider I use (I also use iPlayer, and the other free UK ones like Channel 4 etc). There’s a couple of shows I’d like to see on Netflix but not enough to justify me paying for it, and the same for Amazon.

Disney, on the other hand, have basically bought every franchise I enjoy. They have Marvel, and Star Wars for me, and all sorts of cartoons for my son (and also me).

So – I thought I would rank the series I have watched. This is mostly for my own amusement. I’m going to try to remember to update this as I watch new shows.

Star Wars

1. The Book of Boba Fett: episode 5. It’s not that this is basically an episode of the Mandolorian, but it’s just a wonderfully told story. Minimal dialogue, and super interesting.
2. The Mandalorian. I took a while to warm up to this series. The first series wasn’t bad, but the second one was really good, and I look forward to more of it.
3. Andor. I was really impressed by how the series looked and felt. It had fantastic production values, and the story was interesting. I know a lot of people love the series but for me it was all a bit slow. Possibly controversial but I would have liked a bit more action. Apparently Series 2 will have more of the characters we recognise (fingers crossed for Donnie Yen).
4. Star Wars Visions. A bit of a mixed bag for me. Really enjoyed some of the episodes, not so keen on others. Season 2 on the other hand turned things around. The newer episodes were fantastic - really enjoyed all of them.
5. Obi-Wan Kenobi. I was a massive fan of the prequel trilogy. Episode One came out when I was studying digital art at university so I lapped up all the behind the scenes stuff I could find. As such I have a soft spot for Ewan McGregor as Obi-wan – it was great to see him (and ther other actors) reprising their roles. There were a few characters that felt a bit unessecary, and some of the pacing was a bit slow, but overall I enjoyed this.
6. The Book of Boba Fett: everything except episode 5. I know he was a popular character but I was never interested in Boba Fett from the films, but I actually quite enjoyed this series. Thinking back on it there were some really nice parts, but there were things that put me off of it and they are the ones I remember first.

Marvel

I don’t read comics so everything I know about Marvel is limited to the movies and TV series I’ve seen. I’ve actually managed to see all the films (in part because of Disney+ and the pandemic), and now all the series.

1. Loki. I was pretty indifferent to Loki before seeing this series, but I now want to see more. I’m looking forward to the upcoming series 2.
2. Wandavision. Going into this series I was quite tired of Marvel movies and their formulaic stories, so it was really nice to have something so different. The ending went back to the formulaic big battle, which seemed a shame; but otherwise this was a lot of fun and really made me feel sorry for Wanda and all she has been through.
3. Daredevil. I know it was made for Netflix but it’s on Disney+ and it’s really good. I actually watched the first 2 series on DVD before I got Disney+ so it’s only the third I’ve seen on D+. I want to watch the Punisher as well since the character was introduced to me through series 2.
4. She-Hulk. This is a really fun series that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I like that it has it’s own personality, even though the character is a cousin of the actual Hulk. A Wong spin-off would be awesome.
5. Hawkeye. A bit more actiony than some of the ther series, I’ve always had a soft spot for archers. I was a big Robin Hood fan as a child and I always liked the Clint Barton character. The fact he’s getting a bit older now and has had enough of fighting makes this even more interesting. Add in the new characters who will take over the mantle and this is a fun change of pace.
6. Moonknight. I had heard of Hulk, and Ironman, and Spiderman, and a lot of the earlier Marvel movie characters – but I knew nothing about Moonknight. It was fun, but all felt a bit odd. I wonder if it would work better in a second viewing now I know what is going on.
7. Falcon and the Winter Soldier. This came fairly early in Disney pluses life and really it felt like a made for TV Avengers movie. I liked that Captain America has passed on the role to someone else, but otherwise it just felt a bit less than the other shows her.
8. Secret Invasion. I like Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury and there was a good ensemble cast, but it all felt a bit confused, and the final confrontation was ridiculous. I think Marvel need to learn that we don’t always need to have a massive fight to finish things off. And these characters are getting way too overpowered - I don’t know how we are supposed to continue the films if the bad guys keep getting stronger and stronger like this.
9. Ms Marvel. I wanted to like this but there was too much mystical stuff. It felt more like a show for tweens. There were some fun parts, but mostly I don’t think it was for me. It will be interesting to see how the character fits into future shows & movies.
10. What if? Honestly, I only watched a couple of episodes but they didn’t hold my attention. I prefer the live action shows.

Cartoons

1. The Owl House. Possibly the best series on the platform. The entire thing, from series 1 through 3 is brilliant. Really enjoyed the adventures of Luz and looking forward to seeing what Dana Terrace and friends create next.
2. Amphibia. The first series didn’t grab me like some of the others did, but it really took off with series 2 and by series 3 I couldn’t get enough of it. Wonderful stuff.
3. Gravity Falls. I was really impressed with this, it was a fun story that the whole family enjoyed. I must admit the last few episodes felt a bit weird since they were a massive departure from the earlier ones, but it was all finished off nicely.
4. Big City Greens. I didn’t expect much from this, it looked like it would just be a Simpsons knock-off, but it was a lot of fun.
5. Star Versus the Forces of Evil. Wasn’t expecting much from this but really enjoyed this as well. Didn’t have quite the same level of episodic storytelling as the shows above, but I really liked the characters and would be happy to watch more of this.
6. Big Yellow Yeti. I love the visual style and the quirkiness of this series. It would have been nice if it had more of an episodic story going through it.
7. Ghost and Molly McGee. Pretty good, but nothing episodic (which is what I really want). I know there’s a series 2 coming so hoping that has more of an ongoing story.

Others

These shows don’t come under other franchises but are other things I have enjoyed watching. It’s not an exhaustive list, but covers the things that are most memorable.

1. The Bear. This is fantastic. I’m not sure why I started watching this as it’s not the sort of thing I would normally choose but I’ve really enjoyed seeing Carmy and his team trying to create their dream restaurant.
2. Mr Inbetween. An Australian series about a hitman. Very different to other shows on Disney+ but I loved the change of pace. A little dissapointed it ended the way it did. The actor who played Bruce was phenomenal - so believable.
3. What we do in the Shadows. I watched the earlier series of this on normal TV (Channel 4 I think), but now it’s on Disney+ I stream it. I find that often the first series is good and things go downhill, but this shows no signs of doing that.
4. Mysterious Benedict Society. American teenage series often feel very samey, so I was really pleased with this. I wasn’t familiar with the books but I felt like I could relate to the characters. Wasn’t entirely sure what was going on with the Emergency, but enjoyed it very much. Series 2 wasn’t quite as good as the first, and a big shame they removed the entire thing from the platform.
5. Only Murders in the Building. I tried this when it first came out but it didn’t quite click. Gave it another try recently and ended up watching all the episodes pretty quickly. I really got into it and breezed through both series. Looking forward to seeing what series 3 brings.
6. The Dropout. I had heard of Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes, and the fraud case; but didn’t know much about it so this was a really interesting watch.
7. Light and Magic. When I was at university my goal was to work for either Pixar or ILM (or Nintendo). So it was amazing seeing how ILM came together. It’s nothing like I imagined and everything I think I would have liked to have been a part of.
8. National Treasure. This was better than I had expected. I quite liked the characters and the premise was fun. I would have preffered a bit more puzzle solving that we could join in with – they seemed to jump to solutions very quickly. Also some of it felt a bit contrived (Elvis Presley?), but otherwise it wasn’t bad at all.
9. Pam and Tommy. This was really well acted, and a fascinating insight into something that was massive news when it originally happened. Whilst I knew about the tape, I didn’t know anything about the background of the story. Considering the subject matter it wasn’t as adult as it could have been – mostly there was a lot of swearing.

Let me know what you think on Mastodon, or BlueSky (or Twitter X if you must).

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