Netflix has purged another Marvel series. The streaming service has canceled Daredevil after three seasons.
The drama starring Charlie Cox is the third Marvel series to be canceled at Netflix in recent weeks, joining Iron Fist and Luke Cage. Only Jessica Jones and The Punisher remain on Netflix as its Marvel relationship continues to sour. The move comes nearly two weeks after showrunner Erik Oleson pitched season four of Daredevil to Netflix and Marvel execs.
The cancellation arrives as Marvel corporate parent Disney is launching its own Netflix rival, Disney+. That direct-to-consumer service will feature a roster of high-profile Marvel series, including one centered on Loki, the god of mischief, starring Tom Hiddleston. Disney previously announced plans to pull all of its Marvel feature films from Netflix and exclusively house them on Disney+. (Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and Guardians of the Galaxy are currently streaming on Netflix — for now. Marvel TV series on Netflix — Jessica Jones and Daredevil spinoff The Punisher — will remain on the streamer until they run their course, per the companies’ original five-show deal (which included since canceled Luke Cage, Iron Fist and mashup miniseries The Defenders).
Marvel and Netflix’s relationship has been strained by the negotiations over Luke Cage. Scripts for a potential third season were all but done when Netflix and Marvel were unable to come to terms for the new season. Issues included the total episode count with Netflix wanting to reduce the standard run of 13 to 10 in a bid to tighten the creative. Also, nearly all the Marvel dramas on Netflix have had creative issues that resulted in a revolving door of showrunner changes on series including Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones. (The latter, which will return for its third season in 2019, saw creator/showrunner Melissa Rosenberg depart for a lucrative overall deal with Warner Bros. TV.)
The other issue at play is that Netflix is looking to make franchises out of their own content that they produce in-house. Back in 2013 when the deal was made with Marvel, the streaming service was looking for big content to make a name for itself and in the years since, Netflix has become a bigger player with series’ that they own outright. Netflix and Marvel TV have also been arguing over the season orders and that may have played a role in Daredevil’s demise, as it did Luke Cage‘s. Being part of the first wave of Netflix original series, all Marvel series have produced 13-episode seasons. But Netflix has since switched to seasons of 10 episodes and has been pressuring Marvel TV to switch to fewer episodes, which the company had been resisting.
