Former 'Daredevil' Writer Thinks Marvel's Days On Netflix Are Numbered

Like pretty much everyone else, it seems, we at ScienceFiction.com were stunned by Netflix’s abrupt cancellation of Marvel’s ‘Daredevil’ last week. Usually, those of us in the general public are the last to hear about this sort of thing, while the creatives involved with the production will have if not advance warning of a potential cancellation, then at least some sense of which way the wind is blowing. In this case, however, the writing staff was just as surprised as the rest of us.

Speaking with io9, ‘Daredevil’ writer Tamara Becher-Wilkinson (who penned Season Three’s ‘Karen‘) recounted the stunning demise of a show she thought was “too big to fail” from the inside. As Becher-Wilkinson recalls, she was in the midst of setting up a writing schedule for the planned fourth season (which had already been plotted and pitched to Netflix) when she got the news:

“[Showrunner Erik Oleson] got a call asking him to go down to see the Marvel executives, and I jokingly went “Ooooooooh,” like a third grader does when someone gets called to a principal’s office. Then,  he waited for everybody to gather back in the writers’ room and he said, “Netflix has decided not to move forward with Season Four.” And that’s all I remember, you know. I kind of missed the details because I was, like, so surprised.”

While conceding that she wasn’t privy to the show’s performance in terms of viewership figures and Netflix’s bottom line, Becher-Wilkinson thought that the strength of the show’s reception had secured its future, even in the face of the recent (and notably less surprising) cancellations of both ‘Luke Cage’ and ‘Iron Fist’. Indeed, Becher-Wilkinson also wrote for ‘Iron Fist’ and notes that she was far from surprised to see that one go. But now that ‘Daredevil’ is gone? If you ask her, the writing is on the wall:

“If I was a betting woman, you know, my guess is that it’s the end of the Marvel Universe on Netflix.”

Be sure to check back with ScienceFiction.com for more on the aftermath of the ‘Daredevil’ cancellation and what (if anything) the future holds for the remaining Marvel shows on Netflix as it becomes available.