Monday, February 18, 2019

Netflix cancels Marvel TV's last two remaining drama series, Jessica Jones and The Punisher, on its streaming service.


Netflix has dumped Marvel TV's last two remaining superhero series on the global streaming service and has cancelled both Jessica Jones and The Punisher.

Netflix's abrupt cancellation follows the cancellations of Iron Fist,  Daredevil,  Luke Cage and the combo-series The Defenders.

An already-produced third season of Jessica Jones will still roll out on Netflix but no date has yet been announced.

"Marvel's The Punisher will not return for a third season on Netflix," Netflix says in a statement.

"Showrunner Steve Lightfoot, the terrific crew, and an 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".

"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."

Netflix initially went big with the announcement of its partnership tie-up in 2013 but the relationship soured as Marvel's owner, Disney, started to work on plans for its own video streaming service, Disney+ that will be launching later in 2019.

Disney plans to use and create Marvel characters for its own service.

After Netflix's announcement, Marvel TV boss Jeph Loeb published a letter online at Marvel.com saying that Netflix "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."