On Monday, Netflix confirmed what many had long suspected: The cancellation of The Punisher and Jessica Jones, its two remaining original Marvel television shows. Coupled with the streamer’s previous announcements regarding the fates of The Defenders, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and Daredevil, Monday’s news effectively signaled the end of creative (and business) relations between the two companies. Even so, the stars of The Punisher and Jessica Jones were quick to reach out to their fans.
Krysten Ritter, who plays the titular hero of Jessica Jones, posted a photo from the final table read of the season three production. “Taken a few weeks back at the table read for our SERIES FINALE,” she wrote:
I love these people to the moon and back. 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. The final season of #JessicaJones is coming later this year and I am proud of how we complete JJ’s journey. I can’t wait for you all to see it. Stay tuned and more to come.
The third (and now final) season of Jessica Jones, for which Ritter is also directing a few episodes, is still in the process of completing post-production. It’s expected to debut on Netflix sometime later this year.
Meanwhile, in the hour right before Netflix confirmed the cancellation news, The Punisher star Jon Bernthal posted a cryptic message to his fans on Instagram. “To all who have served. All who know loss. All who love and understand Frank and his pain. It has been an honor to walk in his boots,” he wrote alongside an image of his character, Frank Castle, taken straight from the Marvel Comics source material.
Yet one of the more mysterious reactions to Netflix’s decision to ax its final two Marvel shows came from none other than Jeph Loeb, the head of Marvel Television. In a letter to fans posted on Marvel’s website, Loeb acknowledged that “our network partner may have decided they no longer want to continue telling the tales of these great characters,” but added that fans should “know Marvel better than that.”
“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,'” Loeb’s letter concluded. “To be continued…!”
Obviously, this doesn’t mean that these particular characters are going to suddenly pop up on Disney+ or elsewhere. Not only would the logistics of such a transition be frustratingly complicated, but a previous report suggests that the contract between Netflix and Marvel ensures that none of these characters can pop up elsewhere for at least two years after cancellation.