Within the last three months, Netflix has canceled three of its five Marvel shows: Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Daredevil. Regardless, Marvel hinted that the characters would return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in future projects. Many speculated that Disney+ would give the heroes a new home. But unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this will be the case anytime soon.
According to Variety, when Marvel brokered a deal with Netflix to produce their initial batch of four shows that would culminate in The Defenders miniseries, it came with strings attached. Evidently, there’s a clause that concerns characters from any cancelled series. Once Netflix pulls the plug, the heroes in question can’t appear in any Marvel film or TV show for at least two years. In other words, potential revivals of the three aforementioned shows could not spring up until 2020 at the earliest. The fourth series, Jessica Jones, is set to premiere its third season next year. If Jessica Jones gets the ax (which seems likely), it couldn’t make a comeback until 2021. Variety also points out that The Punisher was not part of the original deal, which might increase its chances of finding a new home.
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Once Disney enters the streaming market, the studio will pull all of its film and television content from rival platforms. Obviously, this includes a handful of Marvel Studios releases. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, and Black Panther are all currently available to stream on Netflix. Ant-Man and the Wasp is set to join them next month, but its tenure on the platform will be short-lived.
Both Marvel and Netflix declined to comment for Variety’s report. You can share your thoughts on this news in the comment section below.
