Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/December 19 to 25, 2021

The Top 25 Report

This page contains material that is kept because it is considered humorous.
Such material is not meant to be taken seriously.

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (December 19 to 25, 2021)

Prepared with commentary by Igordebraga and SSSB (and minor additions by an anonymous IP editor)

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Wikipedia readers searched so much for articles related to film and streaming releases that the list literally ends in a case of "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Spider-Man: No Way Home	3,730,119	The enduringly popular comic book character Spider-Man created in 1962 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, returns for another adventure which has already grossed more than a billion dollars worldwide, despite the looming threat of the Omicron variant. In the previous film, Spider-Man's secret identity was revealed but when Peter asks Doctor Strange to help solve his problems using magic, the attempt makes things worse and results in the highly publicized return of some old foes.
2	The Matrix Resurrections	2,109,103	Neo returns 18 years after the divisive sequels, in a movie that along with more simulated reality and man-vs-machine shenanigans adds an intense metafictional commentary on both The Matrix trilogy and the current cultural zeitgeist (which at times can be interpreted as writer-director Lana Wachowski complaining on how she spent all those years repeatedly hearing about The Matrix and asking when she and absent sister Lilly would return to it). And on Wikipedia, unlike the box office, Resurrections managed to beat Sing 2!
3	The Witcher (TV series)	1,496,147	The second series was released on Netflix on December 17, two years after the highly successful first, with a third already confirmed. I had planned on giving a teaser here, but when trying to read the episode summary I couldn't make head-nor-tail of it. What I can tell you is that the second series is also based on the books, but this time it's based on a novel, rather than a collection of short stories.
4	Tom Holland	1,080,152	Holland returns as Spider-Man in #1, and I have vowed not to watch any of his media appearances before watching the film, lest he spoils it. It is difficult to avoid plot spoilers, other inconsiderate people are not helping.
5	Pushpa: The Rise	1,067,257	Three-hour epic Tollywood action drama about wood smugglers (not a euphemism).
6	Andrew Garfield	1,048,790	Garfield appeared as Spider-Man when it was more distinct (in terms of story-line) from Marvel (2012-14). However, I just saw he appears in #1 - now I'm intrigued. Presumably it's a cameo (like we saw with Stan Lee).
7	Zendaya	1,005,357	#4's girlfriend, not just in #1. Next month there is another other big role of hers returning in season 2 of Euphoria.
8	Don't Look Up (2021 film)	865,354	Netflix released this satire that tries to reflect how global warming doesn't get the deserved attention by showing an Earth-threatening comet not being properly handled due to greed, incompetence and complacency. Reviews note that the criticism of denialism and such is commendable, but the movie is uneven in spite of the efforts of writer-director Adam McKay and an impressive cast.
9	Tobey Maguire	854,607	The first cinematic Spider-Man. #1 even acknowledges a back injury he suffered riding horses that almost prevented him from returning as the Webhead in Spider-Man 2.
10	Deaths in 2021	842,631	Honey, gotta help me please Somebody gotta save my soul Baby, detonate for me, aw!
11	The Matrix	799,756	Among the many film events of 1999 was the one that introduced bullet time while mixing in simulated realities, martial arts, and vague philosophizing. A sequel for it hit theaters (#2).
12	Hawkeye (miniseries)	790,360	2021 compensated a year without MCU releases with both four movies and five Disney+ shows, the last of which was this just finished romp where Clint Barton's holidays were spent fighting criminals alongside his fan Kate Bishop, now set to succeed him as the archer Avenger. And it doesn't matter if there are four shows scheduled for 2022, fans just want to know when Hailee Steinfeld's Kate and Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova can be together again.
13	Lucille Ball	730,055	Prime Video released Aaron Sorkin's Being the Ricardos, about the relationship between I Love Lucy stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, played there by Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem.
14	James Webb Space Telescope	615,753	After many years of development and testing, the multi-billion dollar successor to the Hubble Space Telescope was successfully launched from the Guiana Space Centre near Kourou, French Guiana at 12:20 UTC on 25 December 2021.
15	The Wachowskis	606,965	#11 and the sequels were credited to the Wachowski brothers. By 2016, both had completed transitions to sisters, which also marked their split as one departed season 2 of their Netflix show Sense8. Before that, aside from V for Vendetta, the Wachowskis squandered all the good will built from The Matrix with its sequels, two questionable adaptations (Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas) and an epic misfire of an original script (Jupiter Ascending). In any case, after each went its way Lana returned to their signature work in #2, while Lilly is in the Showtime series Work in Progress.
16	Jake Paul	586,831	One more boxing match for this YouTuber, with the same adversary as the last one (former UFC champion Tyron Woodley) and a victory by knockout.
17	Keanu Reeves	570,561	Whoa.
18	The Matrix (franchise)	567,689	Whoa.
19	List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films	540,904	#1 closed off the busiest MCU year, as the goddamned pandemic forced four movies originally scheduled to be released across two years to instead hit theaters in a six-month window. 2022 has two movies pushed forward from 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder... and the complicated case of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which had the original star die, and his replacement causing delays for both an unfortunate injury and a very preventable reason.
20	Anya Chalotra	534,987	Chalotra stars as sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg in season 2 of #3.
21	Gabriel Boric	505,109	Chile has elected a young (35) and left-wing president to show recent protests weren't for naught. This makes another South American country hopeful that next year is their turn to remove an unpopular conservative.
22	Elon Musk	484,890	Frequent visitor to this list, billionaire Elon Musk was named Time magazine's Person of the Year
23	Spider-Man: Homecoming	480,045	#1 picks up directly from Spider-Man: Far From Home, and constant reminders of it are probably why that one couldn't get more views than Spidey's first MCU movie, where he confronts the Vulture (another Birdman for the once and future Batman Michael Keaton - and the character is bound to return in Morbius).
24	The Witcher	470,450	The book series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski that spawned a successful video game series and eventually a hit series on Netflix starring Henry Cavill (#3).
25	Christmas	464,926	Ah yes, Saturday had the holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus, where Santa also appears to deliver gifts. And yet only 3,000 views kept it on the list ahead of Disney's latest feature animation Encanto.