Jeph Loeb
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Sad to say, fans were not shocked by the announcement that Netflix had pulled the plug on the remaining two Marvel original series, ‘The Punisher’ and ‘Jessica Jones’, considering that it had already axed ‘Iron Fist’, ‘Luke Cage’, and the most successful of the bunch, ‘Daredevil’.  The timing was a bit startling, in that ‘Jessica Jones’ Season Three still hasn’t been released, but it was a decision that everyone saw coming.

The man behind these, and all Marvel TV series, Jeph Loeb isn’t remaining mum.  He, and Netflix, have been clear that the cancellations come from the streaming service, not internally at Marvel TV.  In an open letter to fans, posted on Marvel.com, Loeb thanked fans and gave praise to everyone involved in bringing these gritty adventures to life.

“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.”

And while he didn’t indicate anything specific, he promised that more stories were to come in the future.

“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…!”

As for the reason why Netflix axed these shows, it’s no secret that Marvel’s parent company, Disney will gain 60% controlling interest in rival streaming service Hulu, and Disney’s CEO Bob Iger has been clear that he wants to take Hulu global to become an even greater rival to Netflix.  There is also the fact that Disney is launching a separate family-targeted streamer, Disney+, this year, cutting into Netflix’s market even further.

You can read all of Lobe’s letter 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.

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


Are you upset that there won’t be any more new Marvel adventures on Netflix?  Or would you rather see them go somewhere else anyway?