‘The Punisher’ & ‘Jessica Jones’ Canceled By Netflix; Latter’s 3rd Season Still To Air
(UPDATED with Marvel Statement) EXCLUSIVE: Exactly a month after the launch of its second season on Netflix, Marvel’s The Punisher has had to bite the bullet as has Jessica Jones.
As the only two series from the TV arm of the comic giant still left on the streamer, there will be no Season 3 of the Jon Bernthal led vigilante series, I’ve learned. The completed third season of the Krysten Ritter starring Jessica Jones will still appear on the streamer but will be put on ice for good after that.
Related stories
'Friends From College' Canceled After Two Seasons At Netflix
This marks the end of the multi-series, big bucks and big ambitions relationship between Marvel and Netflix that started in 2013 with the announcement of four series and a The Defenders limited series.
“Marvel’s The Punisher will not return for a third season on Netflix,” Netflix confirmed today to Deadline. “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,” the streamer added.
“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,” Netflix also made official this President’s Day. “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 Jeph Loeb-led Marvel TV issued their own words of celebration and farewell after Deadline exclusively broke the news of the duel cancelation – with a kicker shout out to Daredevil, the first of the Marvel series to air on Netflix on April 10, 2015.
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.
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,” the company added.
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…!
Though the decision not to bring Punisher back for more has been rumored for weeks, Netflix and Marvel waited until after the January 18 debuting 13-episode Season 2 had been on the streamer for several weeks before making the cancellation official. The end of Jones comes as more of a shocker – though I hear the end of the upcoming third and final season will serve as a savory series finale.
The news of the end of Punisher and Jessica Jones follows the revelation that Walking Dead alum Bernthal is set to join New Line’s The Sopranos prequel feature, which currently has the working title of The Many Saints of Newark. In part it was because of new roles and new work like The Sopranos pic, the streamer didn’t want to have the creators and cast for either show hanging on waiting for renewals that clearly weren’t in the cards
Bernthal took to social media this morning to offer a cryptic farewell of sorts:
A post shared by Jon Bernthal (@jonnybernthal) on Feb 18, 2019 at 7:49am PST
After Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Daredevil were all given the chop late last year by the streamer, the unplugging of further seasons of the blood and bullet strewn Frank Castle saga should really come as no surprise. With new and old Marvel content a big component of the upcoming Disney+ streaming service, the final stage of the disentangling of the once burgeoning relationship between the House of Mouse and Netflix has now become more a matter of when and how not if.
Additionally, the Loeb-run Marvel TV inked a four-series and one special deal with the soon-to-be Disney dominated Hulu on February 11 that will surely become the new focus of the comic giant’s small screen division.
As a part of the Marvel and Netflix collaboration that came together six years ago, Jessica Jones the TV series was the second series in the arrangement to launch on the streamer after Daredevil.
Starring Breaking Bad alum Ritter in the title role of the emotionally shattered and hard living super powered P.I., Jones Season 1 debuted on November 15, 2015, with the second season launching on March 8, 2018. A third run of the critically acclaimed show about the Defenders member was ordered by Netflix back on April 12 last year
First introduced in the Netflix universe with the March 18, 2016 launching second season of Daredevil, the Punisher is a ruthless and mercilessly fatal hunter of criminals who has long challenged, to be polite, the Marvel moral code since he appeared in the comics in early 1974.
After WME repped Bernthal was announced in 2015 for the role in the Man Without Fear series, the character was given his own spinoff show. in 2016. Season 1 of The Punisher debuted on November 2017. Though a New York Comic Con panel for the firearms filled show was wiped off the schedule after the tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas on October 2, 2017, a second season pickup was made public just weeks later.
Now, despite the last upcoming run of the final season of Jessica Jones later this year, the Marvel days at Netflix are deader than someone who rubbed Frank Castle the wrong way – and that’s dead.
Get more from Deadline.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
