Netflix announced Monday that it is axing its final two Marvel shows, Jessica Jones and The Punisher. While The Punisher won’t be back for a third season, Jessica Jones fans got a lucky break—the vigilante will return for a final run before saying farewell.
"We have decided that the upcoming third season will also be the final season for Marvel’s Jessica Jones," Netflix told Deadline. "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."
In recent months, the streaming service cancelled its other Marvel properties, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and its first ever Marvel series, Daredevil. And despite the fact that Jessica Jones is one of Netflix’s most lauded Marvel series, its cancellation comes as no surprise as Disney—Marvel’s parent company—prepares to launch its own streaming service, Disney+. As Mark Hughes wrote for Forbes, Netflix doesn’t have a ton of motivation to continue collaborating with Disney, which will be pulling its content from Netflix and moving it to Disney +.
Netflix pays money to produce the Marvel shows, but they don't own the IP. Those shows have clear and consistent branding to Marvel Studios. So when the Disney+ service starts airing other Marvel shows tied to the popular films, any Marvel series on Netflix will service as de facto advertising for the other Marvel shows on Disney+. In that way, then, the Marvel-Netflix shows were about to become marketing for a streaming service that directly competes with Netflix.
While Marvel already has shows in the works for Disney +, including series about Loki and Scarlet Witch of The Avengers, there's still a chance that the new service will choose to resurrect some of the old Netflix shows.
Jon Bernthal, star of The Punisher, took to Instagram to bid audiences farewell. His character, a veteran of the Marines, enjoys a special popularity among police officers and members of the armed services, and Bernthal thanked them for their support. "To all who have served," he wrote. "All who know loss. All who love and understand Frank and his pain. It has been an honor to walk in his boots. I’m endlessly grateful to the comic fans and the men and women of the Armed Services and law enforcement community who Frank means so much to. Thank you to the USMC and all the wonderful soldiers who trained me. Go Hard. Be safe."
