Real Reason Netflix Canceled Marvel Shows ‘Jessica Jones’ And ‘The Punisher’

There’s actually a big reason why Netflix decided to cancel “Jessica Jones” and “The Punisher” and it has something to do with Marvel’s parent company, Disney.

According to TechCrunch, Netflix‘s decision two pull the plug on its two remaining Marvel shows is part of its corporate rift with Disney that started when the latter ended its licensing deal with the former due to its planned streaming service.

Disney has been gearing up for the launch of its own streaming service. The company is reportedly producing original content, including Marvel and Star Wars shows. Variety even learned last September that the entertainment giant is developing shows that center on Loki and the Scarlet Witch.

Disney, which is now the majority owner of Hulu after its Fox acquisition, has also announced five animated Marvel shows that will be exclusive on Hulu. The shows that were greenlit last week are titled “MODOK,” “Hit-Monkey,” “Howard the Duck,” “Tigra & Dazzler Show” and “The Offenders,” which is the special crossover series for the characters featured in the first four shows, as per the Hollywood Reporter.

The cancellation of “Jessica Jones” and “The Punisher” shouldn’t come as a surprise for the move became inevitable ever since Netflix scrapped “Iron Fist,” “Daredevil” and “Luke Cage” last fall. “Iron Fist” didn’t really get huge success, but “Luke Cage” and “Daredevil” generated good numbers.

Netflix announced the cancellation of the last two Marvel shows on its platform via a statement to Deadline on Monday.

“‘Marvel’s The Punisher’ will not return for a third season on Netflix,” the statement read. “We have decided that the upcoming third season will also be the final season for ‘Marvel’s Jessica Jones.’”

Following the announcement, “Jessica Jones” lead actress Krysten Ritter took to Instagram to express her gratitude to everyone she worked with on the show for the past five years.

“It has been a dream to play Jessica alongside my amazing cast and the best crew in the business for these past 5 years. I am so grateful for every second of it. We have THE BEST fans. You guys mean the world to me and I appreciate you beyond words,” she captioned a photo she took with her co-workers a few weeks back when they did the table read for the finale.

Whether or not the canceled Marvel shows will be revived elsewhere is still unknown. Collider pointed out that there could be a clause in the shows’ contracts that they could not appear on another network for a certain period of time. Hence, it’s likely that Marvel would choose to focus on new shows rather than working to revive the scrapped projects.