Disney regains rights to Marvel's 'Defenders'; franchise is all set to leave Netflix
Defenders, which includes Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and more, will leave Netflix on March 1, 2022, as Disney regained their rights.
- Entertainment News
- 2 min read
For over 24 hours, reports of Netflix removing many of its Marvel shows began making rounds. It was reported that the OTT giant will remove shows including Daredevil, Jessica Jones and more which upset all Marvel fans. However, now the reports suggest it is happening as Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe is set to welcome back these familiar faces.
As per a recent report by Entertainment Weekly, the Defenders franchise, which includes Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and more, will leave the streaming service on March 1, 2022. Once Netflix's license will come to an end, the franchise will return to Disney. However, the streaming service has not announced its plan yet.
Why are several Defenders characters going back to Disney?
The move back to Disney seemingly came after several characters were featured in the recent outings of Marvel. This hinted the characters might become a part of Disney's extending MCU. Actor Charlie Cox reprised his role as Matt Murdock, and his alter ego Daredevil, in the latest Marvel outing Spider-Man: No Way Home starring Tom Holland. His cameo was widely lauded by the audience as it was a complete surprise for them. He played a lawyer and vigilante in the movie. Earlier, Kingpin, played by Vincent D'Onofrio, appeared in Jeremy Renner starrer series Hawkeye, which streamed on Disney+ Hotstar.
Marvel and Netflix were all set to sign an agreement for all of its shows. However, Disney, which owns Marvel Studios, came out with its own OTT platform resulting in the cancellation of the agreement. Here is what happened.
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Marvel Studios did license the characters to Netflix in 2013 to expand the MCU movie with some web shows. The agreement was cancelled in 2018 when Disney focused on its own MCU shows for its streaming service. To date, Marvel Studios have released a total of four shows: WandaVision, The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, Loki and Hawkeye.
Which all shows are leaving Netflix?
Here's the list of Marvel shows that will be removed from the streamer-
- Daredevil (Seasons 1–3)
- Luke Cage (Seasons 1–2)
- Iron Fist (Seasons 1–2)
- Jessica Jones (Seasons 1–3)
- The Defenders (Limited series)
- The Punisher (Seasons 1–2)