Get ready to say goodbye to the Defenders, Netflix users. Daredevil and its various spinoffs, making up the last significant segment of Netflix’s universe of Marvel TV series, are set to exit the streaming giant’s library globally from the beginning of next month. Though Netflix has yet to make a formal announcement, subscribers have noticed an expiry warning reading “This show is available until 1st March” when streaming the different series on web browsers.
Kicking off with the release of Daredevil season one in 2015, Netflix and Marvel enjoyed a lucrative partnership for a while, until the advent of Disney Plus caused the two companies to end their working relationship, with Netflix canceling its entire roster of MCU shows across the end of 2018 and early 2019. The Defenders-verse consists of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Punisher and the crossover miniseries The Defenders. All told, Netflix is about to lose 13 seasons of television.
For Netflix subscribers, this isn’t great news, then. Likewise, Netflix itself may be sorry to see these series go as they’ve proven to be consistent hits with audiences — interest in Daredevil rose significantly in December, for example, after Charlie Cox’s cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, the Defenders shows’ removal is no doubt good news for Marvel fans in general as it could pave the way for Disney to revive these properties on their own platforms.
Again, we’ve still yet to get a formal announcement of what’s going on here, but it seems likely that these series won’t vanish from streaming for good and will soon find a new home elsewhere. Disney Plus is the most obvious destination, given that the platform hosts the contemporary roster of Marvel Studios series. That said, it’s possible they’ll end up on Hulu instead given their more mature appeal.
So if you want to revisit Daredevil and company on Netflix, make sure to do so before the end of February.
