Netflix Cancels All Their Marvel Series
The Netflix Marvel Universe is dead.
Following the cancelations of Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Daredevil, Netflix has confirmed that their two surviving Marvel series — Jessica Jones and The Punisher — are also ending. The Punisher just premiered its second (and final) season on the streaming service; the third season of Jessica Jones will wrap up that show and entire Marvel Netflix Universe later this year.
It’s a quiet and disappointing end to a once promising TV extension of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In a statement to Deadline, here’s what Marvel had to say about the news:
It had never been done before. Four separate television series, each with different super-talented showrunners, writers, directors, cast and crew, coming out months apart and then …they would meet in a single event series all set in the heart of New York City. We called them The Defenders.
And together we were thrilled by stories of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and even the Punisher joined in! They said it couldn’t be done.But Marvel assembled amazing teams to write, produce, direct, edit, and score 13 seasons and 161 one-hour episodes. Take a moment and go online and look at the dazzling list of actors, writers, directors, and musicians who graced us with the very best of their craft.
We loved each and every minute of it.
Marvel ended their statement with a Daredevil quote — “The measure of a man is not how he gets knocked to the mat, it’s how he gets back up” — and a ‘To be continued ... !’ Disney is launching its own streaming service this year, Disney+, so it is possible that some of these shows (or new iterations of these characters) could appear there in the future.
Still, this is not the finale anyone involved had in mind. Given how the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown and grown — where Avengers: Endgame will likely be one of the biggest movies in the history of the planet — it’s a little sad how its TV siblings sort of petered out. They never came close to matching the Marvel movies, not just in scope but in complexity of storytelling or feverish devotion of the audience. With Disney+ looming, Marvel fans can hope the next wave of Marvel TV shows fare better there.
Gallery — Every Marvel TV Series, Ranked: