Netflix’s Marvel series are coming home. Social media has been abuzz this morning about a notification added to the six Defenders universe shows, that they would only be available on Netflix until March 1.
Sources confirm to Deadline that Netflix’s license for Marvel’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, The Punisher, Iron Fist and The Defenders team-up limited series is ending and the rights to the shows is reverting to Disney. The company is keeping mum about its distribution plans for the suite of series; they are expected to be announced the shows’ new streaming home soon.
Made by Disney for Netflix in a different era of the streaming age under a different regime at the now-defunct Marvel Television, the series are not a slam-dunk for flagship Disney+ because of mature content, especially in Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Still, Disney+ feels like the best fit, being the designated Marvel streaming home, and the platform’s recent Marvel series Hawkeye even featured a villain from the Defenders universe, Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, as the post-cancellation ban on Disney’s use of characters had expired.
The more adult-focused Hulu, which is controlled by Disney, does have two original Marvel series (M.O.D.O.K, Hit-Monkey) — both adult animation and both sold by Marvel TV before it was disbanded. There had been no expectations that new Marvel content from the studio run by Kevin Feige would find its way to Hulu, with the company’s TV pipeline going straight into Disney+ where Marvel is one of the marquee brands with its own section. It is unclear whether any of the Netflix series would undergo any editing or add content warnings should they go to Disney+.
In addition to Disney regaining control of the existing episodes of the Defenders series, Feige has indicated that there is a possibility to revive/reboot some of the shows, including Daredevil, whose star Charlie Cox recently made his MCU debut in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
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