Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/July 11 to 17, 2021

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (July 11 to 17, 2021)
Prepared with commentary by, , 

After two years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe finally returned to theaters, and the combination of a new movie plus a streaming show closing its season gives the franchise the whole top 3 in our list. Of course the superheroics couldn't prevent football from still being the most dominant subject - and considering our #25, expect more sports in the next issues.


 * {| class="wikitable"

! Rank ! Article ! Class ! Views ! Image ! Notes/about
 * 1
 * Black Widow (2021 film)
 * 1,640,488
 * rowspan=2|LBCE 2014 - Loki and Black Widow (14135138047).jpg
 * It's hard to be a superheroine: the CEO doesn't believe their solo movies will be profitable, said production is only greenlit as they are filming another movie where the character dies, and then one month before the premiere a global pandemic closes theaters everywhere. Yet Natasha Romanoff finally got her day in the limelight, and got good reviews and box office (even if in the latter's case, there's the alternative of shelling out $30 to watch at home), no matter if many fans objected to how the movie includes popular villain Taskmaster only to make it barely resemble the comics version.
 * 2
 * Loki (TV series)
 * 1,367,459
 * rowspan=2|Still on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, everyone's favorite Asgardian villain saw his Disney+ show end in the most teasing if not downright frustrating way possible: on a cliffhanger while announcing there will be a season 2! Said season finale also introduced what will possibly be the next overarching villain of the MCU, a 31st century multiversal conqueror, even if disguised by both referring to Kang as 'He Who Remains' and making him Black instead of purple.
 * 3
 * Kang the Conqueror
 * 1,337,907
 * Dragon Con 2013 - Kang the Conqueror (9697495970).jpg
 * 4
 * UEFA Euro 2020
 * 1,260,242
 * Uefa_european_championship_trophy_(edited).jpg
 * rowspan=2|The finals of two continent-wide association football tournaments were played this week. In Europe, Italy beat England, foiling the latter's dreams of it coming home. To make matters worse, the loss was due to a penalty shootout—the same reason England had lost the semi-finals in 1996. In South America, Argentina beat their longtime rivals in Brazil.
 * 5
 * Copa América
 * 1,211,256
 * Copa america trofeo.jpg
 * 6
 * Richard Branson
 * 1,142,708
 * British Polo Day Morocco (13984569183).jpg
 * If you work a shitty job with no benefits on a planet that is both on fire and underwater, you might stop and ask yourself: what is this all for? The answer: funding a billionaire space race. Jeff Bezos was set to personally enter space on July 20, but as soon as this was announced, Branson decided that he wanted to be in space before Bezos. The Virgin Galactic Unity 22 launched on July 11, went to the lowest point that could be called "space," and landed forty minutes later.
 * 7
 * Novak Djokovic
 * 1,047,457
 * Novak Djokovic (49745340032).jpg
 * One of the best tennis players ever became the third to reach a record 20 Grand Slam titles. Now for him is going to Tokyo and attempting to do well in the Olympics (#25), instead of crashing and burning like he did on Rio 2016.
 * 8
 * UEFA European Championship
 * 1,046,210
 * [[File:Sergio Mattarella meets Italy national football team and Matteo Berrettini (12 July 2021) 01.jpg|100px]]
 * Pictured to the left are the newest champions Italy, a second title 53 years after the first.
 * 9
 * Lionel Messi
 * 917,978
 * Lionel Messi 2018.png
 * For all the inevitable comparisons with Diego Maradona, Messi at least did what "D10S" couldn't and won the continental tournament (#5) with the Argentinian team. And showing how things are weird, the defeated team, Argentina's arch-rival Brazil, actually celebrated that he won instead of giving an unpopular government an excuse to celebrate.
 * 10
 * Space Jam: A New Legacy
 * 877,696
 * C2E2 2014 - Lola Bunny (14272220165).jpg
 * The 2021 NBA Finals are on the way, and yet people were more interested in fictional basketball, as LeBron James copies his idol Michael Jordan and stars in a movie alongside Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes. And instead of being an informal Nike ad, A New Legacy is a literal HBO Max promo showcasing all the properties owned by Warner Bros., including family-unfriendly fare such as Game of Thrones and Mad Max - and to think Pepé Le Pew was cut for being problematic, but a gang of rapists and a nymphomaniac nun get courtside seats!
 * 11
 * Deaths in 2021
 * 868,233
 * A skeleton, seated on a ledge Wellcome V0008832.jpg
 * You better get yourself together Pretty soon you're gonna be dead
 * 12
 * Conor McGregor
 * 839,061
 * Conor McGregor mugshot (2019).jpg
 * He tried moving from mixed martial arts to boxing, returned, and has still to fully go back to his victorious days (see #21).
 * 13
 * Gianluigi Donnarumma
 * 817,184
 * Gianluigi Donnarumma (31895135436) (cropped).jpg
 * What are the odds of Gianluigi Buffon being succeeded as Italy's goalkeeper by a guy with the exact name as him? At just 22, this enormous guy saved two penalties to guarantee the title at #4, and was chosen Player of the Tournament for his efforts.
 * 14
 * Florence Pugh
 * 722,329
 * Florence Pugh (48471761376).jpg
 * The most popular element of #1 is the introduction of Natasha's fellow Black Widow Yelena Belova. Her portrayer is this British actress who along with getting an Academy Award nomination for Little Women, has also taken the wrong train and gone to the wrong Swedish village.
 * 15
 * Italy national football team
 * 682,898
 * rowspan=2|Azerbaijan-Italy, 10 October 2015 26 - Giorgio Chiellini (cropped).jpg
 * rowspan=2| Four years after the national disgrace of not qualifying for the World Cup, gli Azzurri proved not all is lost by winning the continental tournament (#4). The team's captain also got something better for people to remember him other than the fact Luis Suárez bit him during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
 * 16
 * Giorgio Chiellini
 * 641,398
 * 17
 * Bukayo Saka
 * 635,890
 * Penalty.JPG
 * One of three England players (alongside Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford) to miss penalties in the final of #4. All three suffered racist abuse as a result.
 * 18
 * Biz Markie
 * 628,963
 * SXSW 2016 - Biz Markie (25827818545) (cropped).jpg
 * Markie, a rapper best known for his 1989 hit "Just a Friend," passed away on Friday at the age of 57.
 * 19
 * Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Four
 * 577,961
 * 2.3.13CosplayersByLuigiNovi8.jpg
 * This was supposed to start with #1 if not for the goddamned pandemic, meaning Marvel's heroes returned with Disney+ shows (WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and #2) before actual movies. Next up is a kung fu superhero and a non-canon animated series.
 * 20
 * Gareth Southgate
 * 567,138
 * Gareth Southgate 2018-06-13.jpg
 * In 1996, he missed a penalty during the European tournament. In 2021, he put in two guys solely for the penalty shootouts, only for both of them to kick terribly. The penalty mark is Southgate's mark of shame!
 * 21
 * UFC 264
 * 559,951
 * DustinPoirier.png
 * In the first UFC match with a live audience since last March, Dustin Poirier defeated Conor McGregor in only one round.
 * 22
 * FIFA World Cup
 * 555,867
 * Stamp Soviet Union 1966 CPA3355.jpg
 * People just can't wait to get more international football. And the biggest event might be a global tournament, yet only teams who played in either #5 or #8 have won, including...
 * 23
 * England national football team
 * 530,611
 * Azereng.jpg
 * They invented football and yet haven't won with the national team since the 1966 edition of the above. The tempting fate of singing "football's coming home" might've helped. (there's also how apparently it's borderline impossible to win if Mick Jagger is supporting you)
 * 24
 * 2022 FIFA World Cup
 * 521,495
 * 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar (Wordmark).svg
 * Now all national football teams will focus on qualifying for next year's edition of #22 - the last one with a manageable 32 teams, before it bloats to 48. Better appreciate that instead of remembering the host country has no football tradition and is so hot that the games will happen in November-December so the players don't boil alive.
 * 25
 * 2020 Summer Olympics
 * 509,849
 * Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games- Monument of Olympic Rings.jpg
 * The opening ceremonies are scheduled for July 23. The games were planned to showcase how Japan bounced back from the 2011 tsunami, but instead became overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has so far pushed back the games by a year, caused a regional lockdown weeks before the opening, and prompted the creation of a condom-free-but-probably-not-sex-free Olympic village. Doesn't help that in spite of being one body of water away from the pandemic's origin, Japan took very long to start vaccinating its population and now the populace is afraid of a COVID resurgence.
 * }
 * 19
 * Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Four
 * 577,961
 * 2.3.13CosplayersByLuigiNovi8.jpg
 * This was supposed to start with #1 if not for the goddamned pandemic, meaning Marvel's heroes returned with Disney+ shows (WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and #2) before actual movies. Next up is a kung fu superhero and a non-canon animated series.
 * 20
 * Gareth Southgate
 * 567,138
 * Gareth Southgate 2018-06-13.jpg
 * In 1996, he missed a penalty during the European tournament. In 2021, he put in two guys solely for the penalty shootouts, only for both of them to kick terribly. The penalty mark is Southgate's mark of shame!
 * 21
 * UFC 264
 * 559,951
 * DustinPoirier.png
 * In the first UFC match with a live audience since last March, Dustin Poirier defeated Conor McGregor in only one round.
 * 22
 * FIFA World Cup
 * 555,867
 * Stamp Soviet Union 1966 CPA3355.jpg
 * People just can't wait to get more international football. And the biggest event might be a global tournament, yet only teams who played in either #5 or #8 have won, including...
 * 23
 * England national football team
 * 530,611
 * Azereng.jpg
 * They invented football and yet haven't won with the national team since the 1966 edition of the above. The tempting fate of singing "football's coming home" might've helped. (there's also how apparently it's borderline impossible to win if Mick Jagger is supporting you)
 * 24
 * 2022 FIFA World Cup
 * 521,495
 * 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar (Wordmark).svg
 * Now all national football teams will focus on qualifying for next year's edition of #22 - the last one with a manageable 32 teams, before it bloats to 48. Better appreciate that instead of remembering the host country has no football tradition and is so hot that the games will happen in November-December so the players don't boil alive.
 * 25
 * 2020 Summer Olympics
 * 509,849
 * Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games- Monument of Olympic Rings.jpg
 * The opening ceremonies are scheduled for July 23. The games were planned to showcase how Japan bounced back from the 2011 tsunami, but instead became overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has so far pushed back the games by a year, caused a regional lockdown weeks before the opening, and prompted the creation of a condom-free-but-probably-not-sex-free Olympic village. Doesn't help that in spite of being one body of water away from the pandemic's origin, Japan took very long to start vaccinating its population and now the populace is afraid of a COVID resurgence.
 * }
 * 24
 * 2022 FIFA World Cup
 * 521,495
 * 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar (Wordmark).svg
 * Now all national football teams will focus on qualifying for next year's edition of #22 - the last one with a manageable 32 teams, before it bloats to 48. Better appreciate that instead of remembering the host country has no football tradition and is so hot that the games will happen in November-December so the players don't boil alive.
 * 25
 * 2020 Summer Olympics
 * 509,849
 * Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games- Monument of Olympic Rings.jpg
 * The opening ceremonies are scheduled for July 23. The games were planned to showcase how Japan bounced back from the 2011 tsunami, but instead became overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has so far pushed back the games by a year, caused a regional lockdown weeks before the opening, and prompted the creation of a condom-free-but-probably-not-sex-free Olympic village. Doesn't help that in spite of being one body of water away from the pandemic's origin, Japan took very long to start vaccinating its population and now the populace is afraid of a COVID resurgence.
 * }
 * Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games- Monument of Olympic Rings.jpg
 * The opening ceremonies are scheduled for July 23. The games were planned to showcase how Japan bounced back from the 2011 tsunami, but instead became overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has so far pushed back the games by a year, caused a regional lockdown weeks before the opening, and prompted the creation of a condom-free-but-probably-not-sex-free Olympic village. Doesn't help that in spite of being one body of water away from the pandemic's origin, Japan took very long to start vaccinating its population and now the populace is afraid of a COVID resurgence.
 * }
 * }

Exclusions

 * This list excludes 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 talk page if you wish.