Late last year, Netflix decided to purge itself of Marvel TV series. That means the popular ‘Defenders’ franchise including “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones,” “Luke Cage,” “Punisher,” and “Iron Fist” are no longer going to produce new shows after the final season of “Jessica Jones” is released later this spring. Fans took solace in the knowledge that there could be a revival of sorts for these characters once Disney gets the rights back next year. But according to a new report, it’s not going to be a quick process at all.
If Marvel/Disney announced plans to relaunch the various Netflix series today, waiting until 2020 to see the return of these street-level characters wouldn’t be so terrible. Hell, we’re almost halfway through 2019 already. But according to IndieWire, 2020 is when Disney would likely get the rights back, but don’t expect anything new with these characters until well after.
According to the report, Disney’s lawyers are warning the studio to not even think about the future of the characters until the rights revert in 2020. That means that even if Marvel wanted to revive the Defenders for TV or films or whatever, they won’t even look at those heroes until next year. So, with the length of time it takes to develop, film, edit, and release a series or feature film, you likely won’t see anything with Daredevil and his crew until 2021 or, more likely, later.
For those fans holding out hope that actors Charlie Cox, Mike Colter, Krysten Ritter, Jon Bernthal, and Finn Jones were going to hang out and wait for a chance to do it all over again with Disney, it seems as if you’re sorely mistaken. By the time the rights leave Netflix, these actors will have stopped playing the characters for almost two years. And then from there, it’ll be another year until we see them on the screen (that is IF Disney even wants them back).
READ MORE: David Tennant Talks ‘Jessica Jones’ Cancellation: “Three Seasons Of That Story Is Great”
Either way, it’s going to be a long time before Marvel fans can see the further adventures of the Defenders on screen. Might want to give those series a rewatch if you’re jonesing.