The live-action TV adaptation of the video game series Fallout is all the rage today after it hit Amazon Prime Video on April 12. The show has received critical acclaim, getting a 93 percent score and an 88 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes for capturing the video game’s vibes. But despite the positive responses, Netflix show creator BenDavid Grabinski, who’s behind the animated series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, can’t help but compare Fallout’s binge-release style to X-Men ‘97’s weekly release on Disney+.
Grabinski questioned Amazon Prime Video's move to drop all eight episodes of Fallout at once. In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), the film writer saw this move as the “dumbest” thing to do, given the show's big potential. Despite its overnight success, with viewers probably binge-watched the show over the weekend, the 41-year-old said there were no advantages or benefits to releasing it in one go.
“As someone who had his whole season drop all at once at the same time, it's the dumbest sh*t ever,” he tweeted.
He then compared Fallout to X-Men ‘97, which new episodes are set to release every Wednesday on Disney+. With this approach, the animated series has managed to maintain its engagement, with viewers waiting for new episodes to come out weekly. Leaving fans hanging on what will happen next also adds to the excitement, making them want more.
“Imagine if the whole season of X-MEN 97 was out!!!!!” Grabinski continued.
Though all episodes of Grabinski’s Scott Pilgrim Takes Off were also released at once, he revealed he requested a hybrid weekly release model for it. He asked it to have a “two a week over and over,” but it was denied.
The Advantage of X-Men ‘97’s Weekly Release Schedule
X-Men ‘97 has a weekly release schedule that started on March 20. Disney+ opts to release its shows’ new episodes every week, which is the opposite of Netflix’s binge culture. This way, the streamer can keep its viewers all together, encourage more discussion between fans, and avoid spoiling others. It also encourages people to subscribe longer compared to others who may only take advantage of the free trial to binge-watch a series in which episodes are all readily available.
The streamer still treated viewers with a two-episode premiere of X-Men ‘97, though. It also does the same with other TV shows, like Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which dropped its first three episodes at once in February, and occasional two-episode releases, like Episodes 6 and 7 and Episodes 10 and 11, released on March 13 and April 3, respectively.
X-Men ‘97 still has five episodes left before its first season officially concludes. Episode 6, Lifedeath – PT 2, is set to be released on Wednesday, April 17.
Fallout may have seen a massive success, but some can’t help but claim that it has lost its potential to be culturally relevant for a long while with the positive responses it receives if it has a weekly release. However, Amazon Prime Video may have lacked confidence that it would succeed since it's a new show. It's also good to note that it's not common for a new series to release its episodes all at once. Who knows, it's possible second season may finally have a weekly release.
