The Punisher and Jessica Jones Cancelled by Netflix

In news that will likely surprise very few at this point, Netflix confirmed today the cancellation of the Netflix TV series for Marvel’s The Punisher and Jessica Jones (via Deadline.com). The news comes after Netflix opted to end both Iron Fist and Luke Cage after their respective second seasons. Also, the highly lauded Daredevil was cancelled after a critically acclaimed third season.

Jessica Jones has already wrapped production on its third season, which will still stream on Netflix later this year, making it the last Marvel Netflix season. This also marks the end of Marvel and Netflix’s landmark multi-series deal that was first announced almost six years ago in 2013. The multi-series agreement spawned four shows, plus The Defenders miniseries and The Punisher spinoff.

Netflix said in a statement on the news to Deadline: “Marvel’s The Punisher will not return for a third season on Netflix. Showrunner Steve Lightfoot, the terrific crew, and 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.”

The Netflix statement added: “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, which was recognized by the Peabody Awards among many others 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.”

Marvel TV later issued its own statement on the ending of both shows to Deadline, which you can read below:

It had never been done before. Four separate television series, each with different super-talented showrunners, writers, directors, cast and crew, coming out months apart and then …they would meet in a single event series all set in the heart of New York City. We called them The Defenders.

And together we were thrilled by stories of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and even the Punisher joined in! They said it couldn’t be done.But Marvel assembled amazing teams to write, produce, direct, edit, and score 13 seasons and 161 one-hour episodes. Take a moment and go online and look at the dazzling list of actors, writers, directors, and musicians who graced us with the very best of their craft.

We loved each and every minute of it.

And we did it all for you — the fans — who cheered for us around the world and made all the hard work worth it.

On behalf of everyone at Marvel Television, we couldn’t be more proud or more grateful to our audience. Our Network partner may have decided they no longer want to continue telling the tales of these great characters… but you know Marvel better than that,” the company added.

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…!

As has been noted, there have been many rumors and reasons reported for the shows’ cancellations, from declining viewership to Marvel parent company Disney starting its own premium subscription service, Disney+, that will be in direct competition with Netflix.

Under Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, Disney will also hold a majority ownership (60%) of the jointly owned Hulu streaming service. Some have suggested this could lead potentially lead to the more adult Netflix shows being revived on Hulu later on, since Disney+ is going to focus on family-oriented content. However, reports have indicated that Netflix will maintain control and streaming rights of the Marvel Netflix shows until 2020.

Additionally, Frank Castle/Punisher actor Jon Bernthal added a final farewell to the role earlier today on Instagram, which you can see below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuB1v9eFnKy/?utm_source=ig_embed