Netflix Cancels Punisher and Jessica Jones

It’s official: the era of live-action Marvel TV shows on Netflix has come to a close. After each show got a few seasons and the crossover “Defenders,” it looks like the Netflix MCU is now history. The last show we’ll see on the service will be the third season of Jessica Jones.

Netflix Cancels all Live Action MCU Shows

The End of an Era

This news isn’t surprising: after Netflix canceled Iron Fist and Luke Cage, it seemed like their other shows were on thin ice. Daredevil’s cancellation followed shortly after. The cancellation of Punisher and Jessica Jones is unsurprising, if disappointing.

“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,” stated a Netflix representative. It’s odd to think that the first season of Daredevil aired way back in 2014, but now that era has come to a close.

A Future?

Disney is starting its own streaming service, Disney+, later this year. They’ve already confirmed that the service will host all of their movies, including MCU films, as well as Disney-owned television properties. There’s a possibility that Netflix’s cancellations of these shows was in order to pave the way for Disney+ versions of the Netflix shows.

As of yet, none of the characters in Netflix’s MCU shows have appeared in any Marvel films. As such, Disney+ has a lot of options. They could ignore the shows altogether, which would be a shame. They could recast the characters for appearances in other media, which would also be unfortunate.

Hopefully, the shows will all be picked back up with the new streaming service. It would be a shame for shows as good as these to simply go dormant over some rights issues. After all, we still haven’t seen Luke Cage and Iron Fist team-up to become the Heroes for Hire!