Miles Morales Surpasses All Live-Action Spider-Man Films in Total Streaming Minutes
Spider-Man has consistently been Marvel’s most lucrative franchise, but recent streaming statistics challenge the long-standing belief that live-action versions of the character capture the majority of audience interest. With ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ continuing its record-setting theatrical performance, Nielsen has unveiled new viewership data that sheds light on the franchise’s history, revealing a surprising leader within the Spider-Man universe.
That leader is Miles Morales, the Brooklyn teen voiced by Shameik Moore in Sony’s Oscar-winning ‘Spider-Verse’ animated films. According to Nielsen’s reporting, Miles Morales has now become the most-watched Spider-Man in America based on total streaming and TV minutes, despite appearing in only two feature films compared to the numerous entries of his live-action counterparts.
The statistics supporting this ranking are impressive. Nielsen data from January 2023 to early July 2026 reveals that Miles Morales’ two films, ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ and ‘Across the Spider-Verse,’ have amassed a staggering 12.3 billion minutes viewed across American households. This surpasses Tom Holland’s three films at 10.8 billion minutes, Tobey Maguire’s trilogy at 8.6 billion minutes, and Andrew Garfield’s two films at 6.7 billion minutes.
The disparity becomes even clearer when analyzed on a per-film basis. Nielsen’s analysis indicates that Miles averages over 6 billion minutes per movie, roughly double the viewership of any single live-action Spider-Man film, despite the character’s introduction in Marvel Comics being relatively recent, dating back to 2011, compared to Peter Parker’s origins in 1962.
Nielsen attributes much of this difference to the nature of animation, highlighting that animated films tend to have significantly higher rewatchability, especially among children who are more inclined to watch the same film repeatedly compared to typical viewing habits for live-action films. This rewatch factor helps clarify how a character with fewer films can still surpass franchises with three times as many theatrical releases.
Regardless of which version leads, the overall streaming presence of Spider-Man is substantial. According to Media Play News’ analysis of the Nielsen data, American audiences have collectively watched over 121 billion minutes of Spider-Man films and television series since January 2023, encompassing every iteration of the character across both film and TV.
The dominance of animated content extends even further when television series are considered. Nielsen reported that ‘Spidey and His Amazing Friends,’ the preschool-targeted animated series featuring both Peter and Miles, has achieved an incredible 73.7 billion minutes viewed, compared to just 38.2 billion minutes across all ten live-action Spider-Man feature films. This highlights how episodic content designed for repeat viewing can significantly outpace even the most successful theatrical franchises.
This momentum has continued into 2026, with ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ alone accumulating nearly 2 billion minutes in the first half of the year as the film became more widely available for streaming during what is already shaping up to be a remarkable year for the broader franchise. This surge coincides directly with the historic theatrical run of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ which has sparked renewed interest in the entire Spider-Man catalog on streaming platforms.
For a franchise that has undergone more than two decades of live-action reboots, recastings, and multiverse crossovers, the fact that an animated version has quietly taken the lead in total audience engagement presents a genuinely unexpected twist in Spider-Man’s cinematic journey.
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