Streaming Wars, March 2021: Zack Snyder’s Justice League vs the MCU

Between the release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the premiere of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and more, the Streaming Wars heated up last month.

Each month, we take a look at what’s happening with the streaming wars. Which streamer has the best new content? Who’s hiking their prices? Who’s lowering them? Who is winning the ongoing battle for your time and money?

We record all of the skirmishes in the streaming war in a living graph you can check out here. Each month, we give points to the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and the rest that reflect how well or poorly they did over the past four weeks. Who will emerge triumphant? Settle in, it could be a while before we know.

March 2021 saw several of the combatants bring some big guns to the field. Here’s how the points shook out:

Paramount+

• This was the month when CBS All Access became Paramount+, and it went…fine! There isn’t really much in the way of blisteringly brilliant new content, but standbys like Star Trek, Frasier and a lot of kid-friendly content from Nickelodeon will get the job done. And we’ll throw in a point for the rebrand. Points: + 2

Netflix

• Netflix always has original content coming in, but outside of Sherlock Holmes spin-off The Irregulars and Michelle Obama’s new kids show Waffles + Mochi, nothing made much of an impact. Plus they made moves to crack down on password sharing, which no one wants to hear. Points: + 3

Disney+

• Disney+ aired the series finale of WandaVision, got The Falcon and the Winter Soldier off to a rollicking start, and passed 100 million subscribers less than two years after release. We’d give it more points if it weren’t for that subscription price hike. Points: + 3

Hulu

• Hulu had the series premiere of Mayans M.C., a new season of Solar Opposites, original movies like like Boss Level and Kid 90 as well as the addition of classics like Malcolm X and Young Frankenstein…not a bad March for Hulu. Points: + 2

HBO Max

• HBO Max got a steady stream of new and old content alike, but the big hitters were definitely Godzilla v Kong and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which became a cause célèbre among DC Comics fans. Points: + 3

Amazon Prime Video

• Amazon got some buzzy originals in the form of Coming 2 America and Invincible, plus lots of old classics like the Back to the Future movies, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Rushmore. Could do a lot worse. Points: + 2

Apple TV+

• This past month, Apple TV+ got Calls, a TV show featuring only audio from phone calls, and Cherry, a dismally reviewed drama movie with Tom Holland. They’re lucky they’re getting just the one point. Points: + 1

Peacock

• Peacock chugged along in March with exclusives like Mr. Mercedes and a documentary about John Wayne Gacy, as well as older stuff like Lost in Translation and the American Pie movies. Is it a spectacular lineup? Not really. But it is free, so we can’t be too mad at it. Points + 2

Check out our ever-evolving graph here:

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