This time last year, “This Is Us” was smashing records in the viral buzz department after NBC dropped the first trailer for the sappy family drama, which went on to become the best broadcast launch in years.
Now, an upcoming Fox drama may be nipping at its heels. The trailer for “The Gifted” — a new “X-Men” universe series about a suburban couple who discovers their children have mutant powers — has racked up 16 million views on Facebook since being posted just after midnight on Monday. That surpasses the 15 million Facebook views of the “This Is Us” trailer in the first 48 hours after its release in May 2016.
The Fox trailer also has more than 11 million views on YouTube to date.
Granted, “The Gifted” still has a way to go before totally usurping “This Is Us,” which went on to accumulate 50 million Facebook views in 11 days. The NBC drama was also an unknown — a k a original — concept, with an ensemble cast (Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Sterling K. Brown) in two different timelines. (It went on to average 15.3 million viewers in its first season and is renewed for two more.)
“The Gifted,” which co-stars Stephen Moyer (“True Blood”), has the advantage of a built-in Marvel fan base — whose fervor helped “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” top the box office for the second weekend in a row. Whether those fanboys will tune in to this weekly TV series remains to be seen, but it’s safe to say it will be one to watch come fall (when it will air Monday nights).