The Punisher and Jessica Jones have both been cancelled by Netflix, in sad but not surprising news. Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist were all cancelled by the streaming giant, and the remaining two shows were also expected to be cancelled, due to Netflix not wanting to partner up with what they now consider a strong competitor in Disney.
The official report comes from Deadline, who had a statement from Netflix:
“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 statement continued:
“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.”
Before closing by saying:
“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.”
Jon Bernthal took to Instagram to give his farewell to the character:
“To all who have served. 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.”
While this may seem like the end – Hulu has expressed interest in renewing the cancelled shows, so let’s just give it a couple years and see what happens.
Update – Marvel’s Jeph Loeb has given a positive (yet cryptic) message about all of this:
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.
So, Thank You!
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.
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…!
– Jeph Loeb and all of us at Marvel Television
Until then, Jessica Jones third and final season is expected to air very soon.
How do you feel about this news? Be sure to tell us all of your thoughts in the comments!