Traffic report
Spider-Man, football and the departed
- This traffic report is adapted from the Top 25 Report, prepared with commentary by Igordebraga, TheJoebro64, SSSB, and InPursuitOfAMorePerfectUnion.
The last report of 2021 offers a sad return of concerns regarding the pandemic, and all the distractions we find to forget COVID is still out there (including two Marvel Cinematic Universe productions).
Take a look overhead (November 21 to 27)
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Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (November 21 to 27, 2021)
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes/about |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ralf Rangnick | 
|
1,673,772 | 
|
Manchester United has targeted this German coach, who was director of sports and development for Lokomotiv Moscow, but as manager had most recently earned some energy drink money coaching RB Leipzig. Given Rangnick's hiring started just as speculation, our editors here kept any mention of it off his article until the club itself announced the deal. |
| 2 | Murder of Ahmaud Arbery | 
|
1,109,677[1] | In February 2020, Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was tragically murdered by three White men (Gregory McMichael, his son Travis, and William Bryan). On November 24, the three were convicted of felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment, while Travis (the one who killed Arbery) was additionally found guilty of malice murder. All three face a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. | |
| 3 | Adele |
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1,025,642 | .jpg)
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Adele's newest album continues to sell well in its second week, having already "broke[n] the Apple Music record for the most pre-added album" (I'm not 100% sure what this means either) and several other records as it sold over 800,000 copies in the US in the opening week alone.
This was also the week in which Adele persuaded Spotify to remove the abillity to shuffle her albums. Apparently her songs tell a story and need to be listened to in order. |
| 4 | Kenosha unrest shooting | 
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1,022,853 | .jpg)
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The fallout continues after Kyle Rittenhouse, who killed two people during the Kenosha unrest in August 2020, was found not guilty on all charges he faced. Protests and riots have occurred throughout America in the days since the verdict, which continues to be celebrated by the right and condemned by the left. |
| 5 | Jonathan Larson |
|
1,005,943 | 
|
The creator of the classic musical Rent is the subject of Lin-Manuel Miranda feature directorial debut, Tick, Tick... Boom! (named after another musical of his), in which he is portrayed by Andrew "I'm Totally Not in Spider-Man: No Way Home" Garfield. The film has garnered considerable acclaim, and Garfield is now considered a leading candidate for an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination. |
| 6 | Stephen Sondheim |
|
989,155 | 
|
One of Broadway's greatest names, creator of West Side Story, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Into the Woods (and also an Oscar winner for his work on Dick Tracy, plus a mentor to #5), Sondheim died at the age of 91. |
| 7 | Hawkeye (miniseries) |
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804,158 | .jpg)
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In spite of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals dropping off the list, the franchise holds on thanks to Jeremy Renner as the greatest archer this side of Katniss Everdeen, Clint Barton, who has hit Disney+ with a show that like the greatest Christmas movie is about spending the holidays beating up criminals. And Hawkeye follows the movie of his friend Natasha by also featuring his successor, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). |
| 8 | Deaths in 2021 | 
|
794,566 | 
|
And I am not frightened of dying Any time will do, I don't mind Why should I be frightened of dying? There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime |
| 9 | Thanksgiving |
|
777,932 | 
|
It was again time for Americans to reunite for feast, hopefully without COVID spikes. And this year, the ensuing shopping sprees could not get enough views for this list. |
| 10 | The Wheel of Time (TV series) |
|
669,248 | 
|
Prime Video's fantasy show adapting Robert Jordan's book series and starring Rosamund Pike keeps on releasing new episodes and getting more views. |
- ^ includes views under the old name, Killing of Ahmaud Arbery
Life is a great big bang-up (November 28 to December 4)
Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (November 28 to December 4, 2021)
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes/about |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virgil Abloh |
|
1,740,726 | .jpg)
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This fashion designer passed away at the age of 41 this week. |
| 2 | Parag Agrawal |
|
965,534 | 
|
Twitter creator Jack Dorsey announced he had resigned and was to be replaced with this Indian-American who had joined the social network as a software engineer. |
| 3 | Ballon d'Or | 
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898,140 | .jpg)
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France Football has been quite uncreative in choosing its player of the year since 2008, as besides Luka Modric once (and a no-show last year for obvious reasons), they always give it to Cristiano Ronaldo or 2021 recipient Lionel Messi. |
| 4 | Omicron |
|
854,968 | 
|
The 15th letter of the Greek alphabet, which Futurama fans probably associate with Omicron Persei, land of the Omicronians. It's in the news because of the goddamned pandemic, as COVID's latest variant is named Omicron. |
| 5 | Deaths in 2021 |
|
825,904 | 
|
All things must pass None of life's strings can last So I must be on my way And face another day |
| 6 | Patrizia Reggiani |
|
810,798 | 
|
House of Gucci, Lady Gaga's latest acting foray, opposite Kylo Ren, I mean, Adam Driver, is quite the Bad Romance: she married the heir to the Gucci house, who went on to become the majority shareholder, was left without ceremony (he left for a business trip and sent a friend to tell her he wasn't returning), and just one year after they divorced hired someone to kill him. |
| 7 | Maurizio Gucci | 
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757,229 | .jpg)
| |
| 8 | Ralf Rangnick |
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730,912 | .jpg)
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Manchester United's interim coach started off well, as his first match was a 1-0 win. |
| 9 | Greek alphabet |
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720,921 | -animated.gif)
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Given Delta is the fourth letter here, some would expect the COVID variant that emerged from Africa to be Epsilon. Yet the World Health Organization went for the 15th (#4), because they only name "variants of concern"... and they opted to skip nu and xi to avoid confusion with "new" and the Chinese surname. |
| 10 | Hawkeye (miniseries) |
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605,500 | .jpg)
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Disney+ continues the story of "an orphan raised by carnies fighting with a stick and string from the Paleolithic era" being joined by a rich girl with similar archery skills (and a Golden Retriever who likes pizza) during the holidays. The episode also introduced Echo, who is set to get her own show, and in spite of being deaf (and in the show, an amputee), she can beat up just about everyone. |
Wherever there's a hang-up (December 5 to 11)
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Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (December 5 to 11, 2021)
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes/about |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bipin Rawat |
|
3,257,899 | 
|
India's Chief of Defence Staff died in a helicopter crash. |
| 2 | Vicky Kaushal | 
|
2,161,324 | 
|
Still in India, these Bollywood stars got married to each other. |
| 3 | Katrina Kaif |
|
2,093,227 | 
| |
| 4 | Bob Dole |
|
1,291,008 | 
|
This American politician and attorney passed away after a battle with lung cancer. Dole is best known for being the Republican nominee in the 1996 United States presidential election, but lost to the man who did not have sexual relations. The aforementioned man was one of several politicians to pay tribute to Dole, alongside the other former presidents. |
| 5 | Demaryius Thomas |
|
1,020,224 | 
|
A Super Bowl champion who died at just 33 in what was deemed a medical issue, a few months after his retirement. That was a top 5 with a lot of death. Speaking of... |
| 6 | Deaths in 2021 |
|
846,643 | 
|
In homage to #9:
Oh, no, no, no |
| 7 | The Power of the Dog (film) |
|
598,114 | .jpg)
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Netflix released this "gothic Western" where Jane Campion adapted a Thomas Savage novel, where in 1920s Montana Benedict Cumberbatch gets jealous once Kirsten Dunst marries his brother. Well made but slow (though not as much to be outright boring as some other Western), The Power of the Dog already won Best Director at the Venice Film Festival, so the streaming service hopes it can be an awards contender. |
| 8 | Spider-Man: No Way Home |
|
595,261 | 
|
Amazingly Tom Holland has managed not to give away any important plot details, yet. |
| 9 | Michael Nesmith |
|
585,054 | 
|
One of The Monkees, a wooly hat icon who also got big bucks from his mother inventing Liquid Paper, died at the age of 78. |
| 10 | David Ginola |
|
535,853 | 
|
French |
You'll find the Spider-Man! (December 12 to 18)
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Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (December 12 to 18, 2021)
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes/about |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spider-Man: No Way Home |
|
4,812,556 | .jpg)
|
After months of non-stop theories, the final Marvel Cinematic Universe of the year arrived, with a story reminding us that for all his skills Peter Parker is very stupid, as while trying to solve his life he instead makes it absolutely worse, first by causing the sudden appearance of people from two alternate universes (across five movies) that absolutely hate his guts, and then by not thinking "put this thing back where it came from or so help me" and instead deciding to give a second chance to those hostile people. Griping on questionable character decisions apart, No Way Home is still a fun and emotional journey that revels in fanservice for those watching Spider-Man movies ever since 2002. The film already made a killing in advance ticket sales and should make lots of money, as well as attract people to read more about the movie on Wikipedia. |
| 2 | Harnaaz Sandhu |
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1,135,242 | .jpg)
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In spite of people who question why beauty pageants are still a thing, every year Miss Universe brings in the views. And this year, the winner came from India, which already shapes this report quite a bit, so lots on visits ensued to learn more on Harnaaz Sandhu, who was born the same year an Indian woman last won (and second place in the national pageant became a Bollywood star). |
| 3 | Miss Universe 2021 |
|
1,014,261 | ||
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton |
|
940,584 | 
|
The 2021 Formula One World Championship went down to the wire, the two drivers on equal points heading into the final round. As if that weren't enough, the Championship was decided by a last-lap overtake in controversial circumstances. The result was F1 breaking out of Lewis Hamilton dominance as Dutch wunderkind Max Verstappen, son of a fellow F1 driver, took home the World Drivers' Championship. |
| 5 | Max Verstappen |
|
890,938 | .jpg)
| |
| 6 | Tom Holland |
|
882,885 | 
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The star of #1, who became infamous for his loose tongue regarding spoilers. And we're only two months away from seeing Holland as Nathan Drake in the video game adaptation Uncharted. |
| 7 | The Unforgivable |
|
850,950 | 
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As if this Netflix movie starring Sandra Bullock that certainly won't inspire viral challenges like the last time around wasn't already badly received, it's splitting Spider-Man and his girl here. |
| 8 | Zendaya |
|
842,941 | 
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The female lead of #1, who also became the real life girlfriend of #6, like Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy, but not Spider-Man and Mary Jane. |
| 9 | Vicky Kaushal |
|
840,695 | 
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Another Indian in the top 10, namely a Bollywood star – last seen in the biopic Sardar Udham – whose views owe to marrying actress Katrina Kaif. |
| 10 | Deaths in 2021 |
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833,280 | .jpg)
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We sick an' tired of-a your ism-skism game Dyin' 'n' goin' to heaven in-a Jesus' name, Lord. |
Exclusions
- These lists exclude the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the Top 25 Report talk page if you wish.
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