Netflix has cancelled Daredevil, the third in the streaming outlet’s five shows with Marvel Studios that has been given the axe in the last several weeks. Luke Cage and Iron Fist received similar pink slips after their respective second seasons last month.
The Charlie Cox-led series had its third season premier on the streaming service on October 19. The only Marvel shows that Netflix now has are The Punisher and Jessica Jones, whose second and third seasons respectively, will roll out next year.
While it is curtains for the series, the statement released by Netflix states that while the series will continue to be available on the service and that we just might see Cox donning the red costume of the hero of Hell’s Kitchen again –
Marvel’s Daredevil will not return for a fourth season on Netflix. We are tremendously proud of the show’s last and final season and although it’s painful for the fans, we feel it best to close this chapter on a high note. We’re thankful to showrunner Erik Oleson, the show’s writers, stellar crew and incredible cast including Charlie Cox as Daredevil himself, and we’re grateful to the fans who have supported the show over the years. While the series on Netflix has ended, the three existing seasons will remain on the service for years to come, while the Daredevil character will live on in future projects for Marvel.
While there is no official reason for the cancellation, Deadline is reporting that it looks as if the reasons come down to cost and ownership of the programs. Even though all of the Marvel Netflix series were getting generous tax credits from the state of New York, each series was still rather costly. Another driver of the costs of the show was the fact that Netflix and Marvel were contracted for thirteen episodes per season while other Netflix shows were contracted for ten. Additionally, where Netflix owns a majority of the shows they commission, Daredevil and the rest are owned by Marvel Studios.
There is precedence for Netflix shedding off shows they don’t own. The popular mockumentary series American Vandal, produced by CBS Television Studios, Funny Or Die and 3 Arts Entertainment, was also recently cancelled by the streamer after two seasons.
The cancellation of Iron Fist was not much of a surprise as the show had been the least successful of the shows in terms of positive reaction from genre fans and critics. The end of Luke Cage was a bit more surprising as the show was in the process of scripting its third season and a renewal was pretty much considered a fait accompli. Disagreements over the proposed direction for the third season was given as the reason for Luke Cage‘s cancellation.
But Daredevil had been the flagship of the group of Marvel shows when the deal to bring the characters to the streamer was announced in 2015 and was thought to be fairly bulletproof to cancellation. Producer Erik Oleson had reportedly just pitched what the series’ fourth season would be to Netflix shortly before Thanksgiving.
Speculation had been running that Netflix was slowly paring themselves of the Marvel shows with Marvel corporate parent Disney launching their own streaming service next year. That service will feature miniseries featuring Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlett Witch from Marvel Studios’s theatrical films. Deadline has reported from their sources that it is unlikely that Daredevil or the other cancelled Netflix series will be revived on the new Disney service.
