According to many sources, all the Marvel shows with THE DEFENDERS characters of Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter), Danny Rand/Iron Fist (Finn Jones), and Frank Castle/The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) are all set to leave Netflix this month. Not exactly sure what this means, but here’s hoping it means we just might be getting extensions of all these shows with all these characters and hopefully the actors. More below.
Netflix Warning Says It’s Removing ‘Daredevil,’ ‘Punisher,’ And All Its Marvel Defenders Shows
Well this is pretty big. Netflix has now started to show a brief message to some viewers who are booting up the Defenders suite of Marvel shows for the first time, saying that they will be removed from the service on March 1. I just tested it out myself, playing Iron Fist episode one, and the March 1 message does indeed appear in the corner, albeit for quite literally, under a second.
The shows on this list would include Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher and the Defenders crossover series. They are a relic of another age before Disney was doing its own Marvel shows on Disney Plus, and they were a partner, not a rival to Netflix.
But now, fans already have realized that the deal between Netflix and Marvel has expired for these characters, hence Matt Murdock appearing in the new Spider-Man and Kingpin showing up in Hawkeye on Disney Plus. And it stands to reason if these shows are coming down off Netflix in March, they are likely headed to either Disney Plus itself, or possibly the Disney-owned Hulu, which could be seen as a better fit for the more violent series like Daredevil and Punisher, which have “adult content” beyond what Disney’s MCU shows have done so far.
I suppose I realized that this was probably going to happen eventually, but those shows are so intimately linked with Netflix, it’s weird to see them leave. That was during a strange era where Marvel TV and Marvel movies were very disconnected, as though all those series were technically in the MCU, there were never really any true crossovers with the movies.
We already seen this happened with two different Daredevil characters, including its star, and more are supposed to return for the upcoming Echo series. There’s even talk of restarting Daredevil altogether. And if that’s happening, you might be able to imagine other characters like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage could reappear somewhere as well in the universe.
Jon Bernthal, The Punisher, said he was only interested in returning to the role if the show would remain as “true” to the character as it has been, ie. being extremely violent, which again, feels like a Hulu thing, rather than being able to exist on Disney Plus. Jessica Henwick recently said in an interview that she turned down a role in Shang-Chi because she was holding out hope that her Colleen Wing Iron Fist character could return to the MCU someday, and that wouldn’t happen if she was cast as a different part (I’d certainly watch a new season of Iron Fist starring her, though not Danny Rand).
So, we’ll see if Netflix or Disney has something to say officially about this. But the notice is real, I’ve seen it myself, and this removal appears to be imminent. I’d prioritize getting through Daredevil seasons 1-3, Jessica Jones season 1 and Punisher season 1 before they leave, if you haven’t seen them yet.
Update: Netflix also has Agents of SHIELD, but I did not see the March 1 message there, while I have now confirmed it shows up on the other six Netflix-MCU shows. SHIELD was originally on ABC, and may be part of a separate agreement
SOURCE: FORBES
