The cancellation of Luke Cage so soon after Iron Fist was axed wasn’t just shocking but downright confusing for fans across the internet. Though the story of Danny Rand has never managed to earn a whole lot of affection from the general public, the Mike Colter-led series has seen far more praise and attention across its two seasons, raising the question of why Netflix would choose to pull the plug.
Well, a recent report from Business Insider seeks to provide some answers, and by offering a statistical breakdown of each Marvel show on the platform, the piece hints that Daredevil and Jessica Jones could be at similar risk of cancellation.
Since Netflix doesn’t share viewing figures, the most reliable measure we have for how a release is faring with audiences is arguably its performance on social media, and apparently all four Defenders shows suffered significant declines between their first and second seasons. The article summarizes the key points as follows:
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Data from Crimson Hexagon provided to Business Insider shows that social-media buzz for Netflix’s Marvel shows has dropped dramatically over time.
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Netflix abruptly canceled “Luke Cage” and “Iron Fist” this month, and the data suggests that “Daredevil” and “Jessica Jones” could also be in trouble.
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Posts on Twitter and Instagram decreased significantly after each shows’ first seasons.
While this doesn’t look too good for Daredevil and Jessica Jones, it’s worth remembering that viewing figures won’t necessarily correlate with social media impressions, and you could argue that it’s only natural that a show wouldn’t be talked about so much once the novelty of its first few episodes has faded.
Moreover, this isn’t the only idea out there for what could’ve gone wrong for Luke Cage, with a previous report from THR citing good old-fashioned “creative differences” as the problem. And given how suddenly that show was axed after Netflix’s Chief Content Officer assured us it was safe, there could well be truth to that rumor.
In any case, Daredevil season 3 is now available to watch, and is getting a pretty favorable response too. But whether Matt Murdock still has a future remains unclear for the time being.
