As expected, Netflix cancels The Punisher and Jessica Jones

All good things (and even things that were really good but then kind of became not-so-good for a bit) must come to an end. And so we’ve been waiting for the official announcement from Netflix that it has dropped the axe on its remaining Marvel shows. That day has now arrived as Deadline reports that both The Punisher and Jessica Jones have officially now been cancelled.

This is news about as unsurprising as it can get, due to a string of announcements late last year that saw Iron Fist, Luke Cage and then finally Daredevil also getting the chop. The latter cancellation stung the most as Daredevil’s third and final season was the consensus best offering any of the Marvel shows have had to thus far and also drew in big viewership numbers. Netflix cancelled it anyway as the company cut ties with Marvel whose parent company Disney is in the final stages of launching Disney+, Netflix’s soon to be biggest rival in the streaming media space.

Netflix reportedly held off on this proverbial final nail in the coffin until a few weeks after The Punisher S2 dropped, which at least gives Jon Bernthal’s a solid sendoff. With fans now having digested that, all that is left is the already-in-production third and final season of Jessica Jones which is reportedly a proper finale for Krysten Ritter’s hard-nosed super-powered private eye as well. It will still air on Netflix sometime in the middle of this year.

Netflix issued this official statement about the cancellations.

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.

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.

After Deadline’s initial report, Marvel TV boss Jeph Loeb issued his own statement, reflecting on the ambitious and unprecedented arrangement Marvel and Netflix concocted when it launched this shared TV universe with Daredevil back in 2013. And also teasing the future plans.

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

While it looks like there’s very much hope that Disney will resurrect at least some of these shows on Hulu in the future, it won’t be for a couple of years due to a non-competitive clause in the original Netflix deal. Then there’s also the order Marvel just put in to Hulu for four new animated series leading to a crossover animated miniseries which would presumably take preference for a while. Even if that weren’t the case, the Marvel/Netflix universe is for all intents and purposes in its final death throes.

While it’s almost certain that Daredevil will be brought back as soon as possible, the chances of resurrection for the other characters are a different story. For all we know, this may be the last time we see both Bernthal and Ritter on-screen in these roles, and both actors have stated their farewells on social media.

Last Updated: February 19, 2019