Thanos only removed fifty per cent of the Marvel superhero universe…. Netflix is upping it and cleaning their entire slate. In a move that will disappoint but probably surprise no-one, industry site Deadline confirms that Netflix have formally cancelled both The Punisher and Jessica Jones, their last remaining collaborations with Marvel.
Initially people had been blaming the fact that Disney (who own Marvel) is starting up its own streaming service later this year and wanted a majority of its Marvel properties under one banner – with plans for a Loki mini-series (with Rick & Morty‘s Michael Waldron acting as showrunner and star Tom Hiddleston reprising the role) highlighting the Asgardian god’s influence on historical events and also a Scarlet Witch / Vision run. However, recent claims have suggested that it is may have been Netflix, rather than Marvel that pulled the plug, which raises a few eyebrows given the popularity of Daredevil before it was axed.
The second season of The Punisher (featuring Jon Bernthal) recently landed on Netflix with the third season of Jessica Jones (starring Krysten Ritter) slated for the spring. But with their demise it is the end of an era that began to much attention in 2013. All the shows had dovetailed into The Defenders mini-series featuring many of the characters and then returned to their own seasons.
In a formal statement, Netflix noted of The Punisher: “Showrunner Steve Lightfoot, the terrific crew, and exceptional cast including star Jon Bernthal, delivered an acclaimed and compelling series for fans, and we are proud to showcase their work on Netflix for years to come. In addition, in reviewing our Marvel programming, we have decided that the upcoming third season will also be the final season for Marvel’s Jessica Jones. We are grateful to showrunner Melissa Rosenberg, star Krysten Ritter and the entire cast and crew, for three incredible seasons of this groundbreaking series, which was recognized by the Peabody Awards among many others. We are grateful to Marvel for five years of our fruitful partnership and thank the passionate fans who have followed these series from the beginning.”
Marvel also issued a statement which included words that promised fans this might not eb the end of those heroes’ stories…
“On behalf of everyone at Marvel Television, we couldn’t be more proud or more grateful to our audience. Our Network partner may have decided they no longer want to continue telling the tales of these great characters… but you know Marvel better than that. As Matthew Murdock’s Dad once said, ‘The measure of a man is not how he gets knocked to the mat, it’s how he gets back up‘. To be continued…!”
Despite the specific Disney+ plans, Marvel’s Runaways remains on hulu (alongside four new adult animated shows featuring MODOK, Hit-Monkey, Tigra and Dazzler and Howard the Duck), Cloak & Dagger is coming back to freeform and there are still two summer seasons of Agents of SHIELD for ABC.
