Did Netflix Secretly Want Daredevil Season 3 To Fail?

The arrival of Daredevil season 3 should have made the past month a cause for celebration for Marvel fans, but it was overshadowed by the cancellations of both Iron Fist and Luke Cage. It’s since been revealed that all of the MCU shows on Netflix have been losing viewers for years – DD season 3, in particular, failed to earn back nearly half of those who watched season 2 – and all this has left fans worrying for the Man Without Fear’s future.

However, some are now theorizing that Netflix deliberately sabotaged season 3 of the show in order to find a reason to cancel it. Many have come forward complaining that Daredevil‘s new run received hardly any promotion on the streaming service and wasn’t even listed under certain categories when they searched for it.

“Netflix always boosts new releases they care about by putting it right on the top of the screen when you sign in.. normally,” one fan shared with ScreenGeek. “This season I couldn’t even find the show without looking for it in a search! I’m guessing I’m not alone in that either.”

Others corroborated this as well, pointing out: “It wasn’t even in ‘new releases’… before I had seen it.” Likewise, another viewer stated that they didn’t receive the usual promotional emails and prompts about season 3. “Yep. It wasn’t advertised in the usual email or prominent placement by Netflix.”

This is definitely curious behavior by Netflix. On the one hand, it seems to be bad business sense to not advertise the critically acclaimed new season of one of your productions. However, the move could make more sense when placed in the context of Disney’s upcoming streaming service. It’s thought that Marvel will soon sever ties with Netflix and vice versa. In fact, one report even said the breakdown of negotiations between the two was the reason for Luke Cage‘s end.

Given that, we can begin to see why Netflix wouldn’t want to continue to produce shows that in some way benefit their new rivals, which could have led them to bury Daredevil with the intention of making this the last season for it.

Of course, this is all just speculation on our part. Vincent D’Onofrio has confirmed on Twitter, for instance, that no decision has been made about Daredevil‘s future just yet, but when you think about it, it definitely does seem odd that Netflix didn’t give the show’s most recent run much of a push, wouldn’t you say?