What went wrong with Netflix and Marvel's bromance?
Musicians, actors, crimefighters, they should all follow the same advice: get a trade. Something to fall back on. You know, just in case you don’t make the big time, or Netflix cancels your series.
Let’s not worry, then, about Matt Murdock now that the streaming giant has pulled the plug on Daredevil after three solid, if unspectacular, seasons. While his days getting his hands dirty in Hell’s Kitchen might now have been drawn to an end, hopefully the notreally-blind martial artist can get back to his day job: practising law.
Given the news in October that Murdock’s partners in crime-fighting, fellow Defenders Luke Cage and Iron Fist, were also getting the (karate) chop, perhaps the writing was on the wall. If it was, however, it wasn’t visible to Daredevil’s writing staff, who were, according to one of the writers, midmeeting, throwing about ideas for the fourth season when they got news of the cancellation. While I probably don’t want to sit through another 13 hours of Daredevil doing what should really take him only six, it would be interesting to know what they had in store.
There’s no news as yet on the fourth Defender, Jessica Jones, or The Punisher, breakout star of Daredevil’s second run, but with both due to return to our screens next year – Jones’s third season started filming in June, and the second series of The Punisher is nearing completion – it seems unlikely that Netflix would leave them unaired. It’s also just as unlikely these two would be singled out for a stay of execution, especially given what a slog Jones’s second season was. Expect announcements in the near future, but good luck to anyone who has to tell Jon Bernthal he can’t play Frank Castle any more. Email might be best with that one.
So why the cancellations? Quality could be one reason. Executives might have had enough of fair-to-middling superhero adventures that cost a fortune to make. Daredevil’s recent third series served up more of the expected blend of staggering fight scenes – Murdock and Bullseye’s stationery-based face off was thrilling – while Kingpin once again proved to be Marvel’s best on-screen baddie, even if he had to negotiate boring dialogue and a stagnant plot.
Iron Fist was mostly terrible, even if the second run was an improvement on the first, and Luke Cage managed to make a show about a bulletproof man, who was also superhumanly strong, deathly dull. Viewing figures – not something Netflix is very forthcoming with – aren’t available, but reports suggest the numbers were down from one series to the next. The Defenders, the small-screen Avengers, if you will, apparently saw figures drop with each episode.
It’s not quality and figures that seem to be at the heart of these cancellations, but business. Disney, which owns Marvel Studios, makers of these series, is launching its own streaming service, called Disney+, and it’s highly unlikely it wants valuable characters fighting crime on another service.
Marvel waved goodbye to Daredevil with a message saying it “looks forward to more adventures with the Man without Fear in the future”, hinting that there could be a life beyond Netflix – a big-screen reboot, perhaps? – although Disney’s family-friendly image would probably stop it just continuing the grisly series as it is, while Netflix still owns the streaming rights to these axed characters, and will indeed keep the series on its platform for the foreseeable future. How smart a move that is, however, will reveal itself in due course. Netflix’s Marvel series are all heavily stylised and feature consistent branding. As its collaborator becomes a competitor, does it really want to carry what is essentially an advert for not just a rival streaming service, but the company that is probably going to withdraw most of its content from Netflix?
If you’re worried where your next superhero series is coming from, fear not. Neither firm is going to go without, with Netflix launching its own universe in collaboration with Mark Millar, and Disney+ reportedly planning liveaction TV shows featuring Loki, Scarlet Witch, the Winter Soldier and any of its other MCU characters it doesn’t think warrant a whole film. There’ll also be a raft of animated Marvel content.
The age of the superhero is far from over. Perhaps Matt Murdock won’t need to go back to the day job just yet.