When Netflix and Marvel split last year and started cancelling all of the various “street-level” hero series on the streaming service, a lot of fans were saddened to see shows like ‘Daredevil,’ ‘Luke Cage,’ ‘Jessica Jones,’ Iron Fist,’ and the ‘Punisher‘ go away. And they were struck another blow when the news was released that due to a contractual clause with Netflix Marvel Studios could not use the characters for 2 years following the cancellations, meaning there was no chance that any of the Netflix/Marvel series could simply be picked up by Disney+ or Disney friendly Hulu. Now though, thanks to a rumor from the site MCU Cosmic, there’s hope we might see some of these characters return sooner than we thought.
According to writer Jeremy Conrad, who claims to have a pretty solid source, Marvel Studios is already developing projects with a number of characters from the ‘Defenders,’ a limited series on Netflix that featured Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist, as well as many members of their supporting cast. Conrad also mentions that Daredevil and Punisher (who was not actually part of the ‘Defenders’) are ideal candidates to bring into the MCU proper due to their popularity and deep comic-book history, making them ideal team-up members for other series and movies coming out soon.
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Of course, Conrad does not mention whether Marvel is simply bringing new versions of the characters into the MCU and officially removing all the Netflix series from the main continuity or whether they are retaining the original actors and stories from Netflix and just starting them up again. For a lot of fans, bringing back the actors, who were very well cast, is almost as important as having the characters themselves into the MCU, but Marvel may have had to pivot due to the Netflix of it all. Either way, the rumor suggests that Marvel and Netflix might have come to some sort of agreement regarding the characters, allowing the studio to start working with their characters sooner than the 2 year limit they were previously being held to.
What are your thoughts on the future of the Marvel/ Netflix characters? Do you have any theories on where Marvel might be planning to use them? Would you prefer to simply have those shows continue on as they were once the limit with Netflix expired, so we can see the conclusions of the arcs that were being planned when they were on Netflix? Feel free to share your ideas and opinions in the comments below!
