Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
More so than any other superheroes, Marvel’s Defenders are physically tied to the real world. I mean that literally, since the streets featured in all of Netflix’s super shows are the actual streets of New York City. Sure, Queens and Brooklyn serve as stand-ins for Hell’s Kitchen to the slight annoyance of New Yorkers, but you gotta appreciate the way these vigilantes exist in a very real, very recognizable space. Thor runs off to Asgard, Black Panther defends Wakanda, and the Avengers fight all over the globe. But their smallscreen cousins the Defenders, they stay in one localized area.
But, like, there are a whole lot more cities than just New York City! Netflix is one of the few remaining unifiers in America, with people in every state and every city all streaming more or less the same content. That includes the Marvel/Netflix shows: Marvel’s Daredevil, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Marvel’s Luke Cage, Marvel’s Iron Fist, and Marvel’s The Punisher. Audiences love superheroes, and they’ve responded to Netflix’s grounded and gritty take on them. But here’s the question I want answered: which Defenders are popular in which states?
To answer this, I spent a whole lot of time in my happy place Google Trends, an analytics tool that tracks search volume. When I learned you can actually drill down and get state-by-state, even city-by-city numbers, I obviously put this to work for superheroic purposes. Which Defenders (and for the purposes of this piece, The Punisher is a Defender even though he didn’t appear in that team-up mini-series) are popular where? Do your streaming habits line up with your home state?
The results below represent data pulled from across March 15, 2015 (a few weeks before Daredevil Season 1 dropped) through to July 18, 2018 (a few weeks after the most recent season, Luke Cage Season 2, dropped). Some of the info might surprise you–except the part about Iron Fist being super popular in Florida. That just makes sense.
You haven’t seen a map that red since Ronald Reagan won a second term in 1984. Perhaps surprisingly, Daredevil is far and away the most popular (or at least most searched-for) Defender of the entire crew. He’s not the buzziest hero, nor is he the most socially relevant. Put it this way: you don’t see the same number of analytical essays written about the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen as you do about Jessica Jones or Luke Cage (or Iron Fist, for that matter, albeit for entirely different reasons). You hear about all the other heroes way more on social media, but DD is still king.
That may be because he’s the one that’s been around longest, since 1964 (the rest of the heroes debuted in the ’70s, or the early ’00s like Jessica Jones). He also has a feature film and he was the first Defender to debut, meaning he garnered a whole lot of curious spectator googling when his show debuted.
But Daredevil didn’t sweep the country. There are two holdout states, Montana and West Virginia, that went for the Punisher.
#1: Daredevil
Least Popular State: Mississippi
Most Popular City: Alpena, Michigan
Least Popular City: Alexandria, Louisiana
A New Yorker born and raised with Catholic guilt out the wazoo, it’s no wonder Daredevil is a big winner in the Mid-Atlantic and New England states. The surprise actually lies in his top two most popular states: Utah and Hawaii? But I dunno–if you’re living in sunny Hawaii, maybe the dark, wet alleys of Hell’s Kitchen seem like a real getaway?
Let’s talk about Alpena, Michigan, the city with the most interest in Daredevil. Doing this project, I learned that that city is interested in two characters and only two characters: Daredevil and the Punisher. Why? I have no idea. Maybe it has to do with the small population or the demographics? I guess 42-year-old white women living with one roommate are really into taking in opposing views on justice.
#2: Punisher
Least Popular State: Virginia
Most Popular City: Alpena, Michigan
Least Popular City: Hagerstown, Maryland
Frank Castle: hero of the flyover states. The Punisher is Netflix’s second most popular hero, probably because he enjoyed a whole lot of visibility and more than a few movies before getting his TV debut. And while Daredevil gets lots of interest from the Northeast, the man in black has the Midwest with pockets of support in the South and the Southwest. With the Punisher being a veteran, I tried to see if this map corresponds with those with the densest populations of vets; it doesn’t. Daredevil and Punisher are presented as two sides of the same coin, so you could assume this is a a Red State/Blue State thing, but that’s not totally the case when you compare it to the 2016 election map. Punisher’s popular states all went Red except for New Mexico, and Daredevil is mostly Blue except for Utah, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Kansas. These maps are all over the map.
The shocking thing here is the border that separates Punisher’s most popular state (West Virginia) from his least popular state (Virginia). But his drastic unpopularity in Virginia and also Hagerstown, Maryland can be chalked up to their proximity to Washington, D.C. According to Google, Frank Castle is not that popular with people living in or near the nation’s capital!
#3: Jessica Jones
Least Popular State: South Carolina
Most Popular City: Eureka, California
Least Popular City: North Platte, Nebraska
Jessica Jones may be a loner, but she’s pretty popular all over the United States. New England, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northwest–this private eye’s reach stretches from coast to coast. Well, from east to west; all of Jones’ hotspots lie in the top half of the country. You can’t tell me the Jack Daniel’s drinkers of Tennessee don’t love Ms. Jones! Oh–Tennessee is her 43rd most popular state? Sheesh, Netflix, work up a sponsorship or something. Reach out to your audience!
Also, Netflix, consider hosting a Jessica Jones event in Eureka, California, the city with the most interest in Krysten Ritter’s reluctant superhero. Maybe host an event at the Carson Mansion in Eureka’s Old Town, not because it has anything to do with Jess’ hardboiled show, but just because it looks super creepy.
#4: Luke Cage
Least Popular State: North Dakota
Most Popular City: Greenville, Mississippi
Least Popular City: Alpena, Michigan
Luke Cage is more than just the hero of Harlem, he’s the hero of nearly the entire American south. Unlike every other Defender, with pockets popping all over the country, Power Man’s popularity runs from Delaware and down along the coast, and then back through America all the way to Texas. This is actually proof of the power of representation, especially critically-acclaimed representation like Marvel’s Luke Cage. Nine of the top ten states with the highest percentage of African-American population appear in this top ten, with Texas taking Tennessee’s spot. And Luke Cage’s lowest-state, North Dakota, comes in at 46th on that afore-linked-to list.
When it comes to cities, the citizens of Greenville, Mississippi (pop. 38,300) are Luke Cage’s biggest fans. Savannah, Georgia–Luke Cage’s hometown–came in at #19 on the list of cities, behind Atlanta, Memphis, New York, and Philadelphia. I’m not saying Savannah needs to go for that #1 spot, but I’m not not saying that either.
#5: Iron Fist
Least Popular State: Virginia
Most Popular City: Victoria, Texas
Least Popular City: Alpena, Michigan
Oh, Iron Fist, the least popular Defender! Danny Rand calls himself immortal, so maybe he has time to make himself more popular in the 49 states where he came in last. That 50th state is Hawaii, where he’s actually more popular than Luke Cage and almost as popular as Jessica Jones. Also, you gotta love that when Florida finally makes it onto a list, it’s Iron Fist’s. Florida, you keep being Florida!
One thing is for sure: if Netflix makes a Power Man and Iron Fist series, they need to drop lots of ad dollars on northern Michigan. Y’all gotta make a dent in Alpena! They haven’t heard about any Netflix show other than Daredevil and Punisher!
