The Punisher, Jessica Jones Cancelled at Netflix, Ending Partnership With Marvel
Netflix’s partnership with Marvel TV has reached its last panel: The Punisher and Jessica Jones have both been cancelled at the streaming service, TVLine has confirmed.
Jessica Jones had previously been renewed for a third season at Netflix, which is still slated to air on the platform (though a premiere date has yet to be announced). The Punisher‘s Season 2 finale, meanwhile, will now serve as the show’s series finale.
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Netflix issued the following statement regarding 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. We are grateful to Marvel for five years of our fruitful partnership and thank the passionate fans who have followed these series from the beginning.
The cancellations are not entirely unexpected, seeing as fellow Marvel series Daredevil, Iron Fist and Luke Cage all had been axed in recent months.
Might Jessica and friends resurface on the upcoming Disney+ streaming service? Not until at least 2020, or later. As previously reported by Variety, the deal for the original four Marvel shows (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist) included a clause that keeps the characters from appearing in any non-Netflix series (or film) for at least two years after cancellation. (As a spinoff of Daredevil, The Punisher is not a part of that arrangement.)
Marvel TV chief Jeph Loeb has reiterated his previous stance on the rash of cancellations, saying in a letter to fans, “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…!”
The Punisher star Jon Bernthal addressed the show’s end in an Instagram post on Monday, writing that “it has been an honor to walk in [Frank Castle’s] boots.”
Our sister site Deadline was first to report the cancellation news. TVLine’s Streaming Renewal Scorecard has been updated accordingly.
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