Update, Wednesday, February 23, at 1:45 p.m.: Marvel’s Defenders series will officially relocate from Netflix to Disney on March 16. Daredevil, The Punisher, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and The Defenders will be made available to stream on Disney+ Canada. It is currently unclear whether or not they will be part of Disney+’s U.S. selection. However, the decision shows Disney’s continued foray into the Marvel cinematic universe; it also plans to premiere Moon Knight, adapted from a Marvel comic, on March 30. Vulture has reached out to Disney+ for comment and will update as new information is available.
Original story follows.
Binge Daredevil and Jessica Jones while you still can. These Marvel shows and the rest of the Defenders series — including The Defenders, Luke Cage, and Punisher — will be departing from Netflix on February 28. The fan-sphere is ripe with speculation about the future whereabouts of these popular MCU shows, with some theorizing that Hulu or Disney+ may acquire Defenders-related content to boost their status in the streaming wars.
The Marvel series were licensed originals, the rights for which have reverted back to Disney. Forbes previously reported that “Netflix’s deal with Marvel reportedly contained a clause where Netflix would still retain the rights to these shows and characters for two years after the shows finished airing.” With Daredevil’s cancellation in November 2018 and the last season of Jessica Jones debuting in June 2019, the time is ripe for these shows to swap streaming platforms.
The five shows represent some of the edgier MCU fare, which is why it’ll be interesting to see what Disney decides do with them for its family audience. If the shows premiere on Disney+, they will join a long list of new Marvel fare, including Loki and WandaVision. However, this may not mean the end for the Daredevil saga. Actor Charlie Cox told The Hollywood Reporter on February 11 that since his show officially entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he’s hoping to “collide” with Kingpin actor Vincent D’Onofrio once again.
