Netflix’s stab at adapting Marvel heroes for the streaming scene was an unusual, but mostly successful experiment.
Daredevil and Jessica Jones both received rave reviews for their thoughtful, action-packed takes on superheroes that haven’t previously been appreciated on the small screen; Luke Cage was mostly great, but probably didn’t get the same attention, as MCU movies really began to take off; and uhhhh the less said about Iron Fist, the better.
So where are The Defenders now, with practically every other Marvel property dwelling on competitor Disney+? From March 16, all of Netflix’s live-action superhero series will join their brethren on Disney’s streaming service. ‘Bout time.
The big switch has been a long time coming, and Disney+ would probably rather forget that these solid shows were ever nabbed by Netflix in the first place. Consolidated together in one mighty move, though, onto the home of series like Agent Carter and WandaVision, it feels so right to see the gang added into that smorgasbord of powered-up comic book characters.
In a piece listing out the top 5 Marvel series so far, Travis Johnson included two of these wrongly discarded series, and pointed out that “television has long been a part of the MCU master plan. All the better to make the Universe a living, breathing setting where superheroes and superheroics wait around every corner.”
We’re also forgetting to mention hunky Jon Bernthal’s turn as The Punisher, the final show released as part of Netflix’s jaunt with the Marvel canon. After the release of his second season in February 2019, Netflix had cancelled all Marvel hero shows, and Disney was required by license to wait two years before whipping out any of the characters in their own titles (like, say, dropping Charlie Cox’s Daredevil into a mega-blockbuster crossover event).
