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Netflix Tudum event: Rewatch all the peeks at Stranger Things, Cowboy Bebop, Sandman and more

Netflix's fan event reveals clips and news nuggets about Stranger Things, a big Kanye West doc, The Sandman, Cobra Kai, The Witcher, Bridgerton, Cowboy Bebop and more.

Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter
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Joan E. Solsman
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Netflix

Netflix's Tudum was a three-hour online "fan event" Saturday on its YouTube channels and other social accounts. Named after the distinctive drumbeat at the start of Netflix's audio-logo, Tudum set out to hype more than 100 Netflix titles with first-look clips, new trailers and conversations with stars and creators. 

The sections below have links to all the highlights, which included new clips from Stranger Things' fourth season, Cowboy BebopCobra Kai's fourth season, Bridgerton's second season, Ozark's final season, Emily in Paris' second season, Red NoticeDon't Look UpThe Sandman, La Casa de Papel (aka Money Heist), Arcane, and the growing franchise based on The Witcher.

Other titles in the spotlight included series The Crown and Umbrella Academy and films like The Harder They Fall and sequels to Extraction and The Old Guard

Here's everything to know, including a PDF of the full schedule and sections with links to the main things that were released. 

What was Tudum? 

Tudum was a three-hour online video showcase of some of Netflix's big original titles. The company recruited dozens of its stars to show up and discuss their shows and help release new details, clips, teasers and trailers.

It was the first marathon online fan event of this kind for Netflix. The company had experimented with other forms of fan events during the pandemic, including its own Geeked Week riff on a virtual Comic Con-style event over the course of five days in June. But this was Netflix's first big-tent virtual event of this kind.  

When was Tudum? 

The event ran for more than three hours online Saturday starting at 9 a.m. PT/noon ET. 

Earlier in the day, Netflix had a separate online fan event, which it called a preshow, focused on Korean, Indian and anime titles, starting at 5 a.m. PT/8 a.m. ET.

How did people watch? And is there a recording?

Netflix streamed Tudum free simultaneously across most of its major social-media channels and accounts, including its main YouTube channel, as well as its TwitterTwitch and Facebook pages. (Ironically, though, you couldn't watch the event on Netflix itself.)  

Now that it's over, you can watch (and skip around within) an on-demand video of the full show

Tudum was also streaming on many of Netflix's localized YouTube channels, in a number of different languages. The preshow focused on Korean, Indian and anime was on the relevant localized YouTube channels. 

What was the schedule? 

Netflix provided an hour-by-hour rundown of Tudum prior to the event --  that full agenda is embedded at the bottom of this section. 

Some of the highlights, with links to the what was released, included: 

Tudum hour one

  • Red Notice -- Dwayne Johnson premiered an exclusive clip of the action-comedy also starring Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds.
  • Stranger Things season 4 -- Netflix unveiled a new Stranger Things season 4 clip, the next installment of the hit show, which still doesn't have a release date. The clip shows off a new location for the fourth season, a spooky home called the Creel House. 
  • La Casa de Papel, also known as Money Heist -- Star Álvaro Morte was on hand to show off a new scene from the upcoming final episodes of the series. 
  • Ozark -- Jason Bateman premiered a first-look video of the final season.
  • Jeen-yuhs -- Netflix dropped a first look at some of the never-before-seen footage from its Kanye West documentary, which has followed West, with his permission, for 20 years.
  • Bridgerton -- Cast from the first two seasons discussed the series and debuted a first look at season 2.

Tudum hour two

Tudum hour three

The full agenda below is a handy cheat sheet for rewatching the full show to know when other titles got their moments in the spotlight.

Why did Netflix hold this Tudum event? 

This sort of big-tent virtual event is the first of its kind by Netflix, which dominates the streaming world as the biggest subscription service, with 209 million subscribers. But as dominant as it is, Netflix still faces intensifying competition from upstart streaming rivals like Disney PlusHBO MaxApple TV Plus and others. Tudum underscores a new marketing experiment stepping up Netflix's outreach to its various fandoms.

Tudum brings to mind events like ComicCon, Disney's D23 or DC FanDome, which aim to tap into fervor of well-established fan bases. Tudum appears to be Netflix trying to sculpt its own version. 

But Netflix has yet to cultivate the kind of global, passionate fandoms that are devoted to the likes of Disney's Marvel and Star Wars franchises, WarnerMedia's DC properties or ViacomCBS' Star Trek programs. Stranger Things, and more recently The Witcher, have come closest. But other attempts have sputtered, like Jupiter's Legacy -- a superhero drama series that reportedly went spectacularly over budget only for Netflix to scrap plans for future seasons just a month after it premiered. (Netflix isn't giving up, though: Other projects in the so-called Millarworld of comic-book writer Mark Millar are still going forward, like anime and live-action interpretations of villian-focused Super Crooks.)

For one, Netflix doesn't have the same multi-faceted business model of a Disney, which can pump its fandoms with theatrical movies, spin-off shows, amusement park and cruise experiences and mountains of merchandise. Netflix has been flirting with selling merchandise in its own store recently, but the effort is still in its infancy. 

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