Netflix’s MCU: What Went Wrong?
Explaining Netflix's decision to cancel all of its Marvel TV shows.
The final two nails have been hammered into the coffin of the Netflix Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the official cancellations of The Punisher and Jessica Jones, the streaming service has fully washed its hands of the MCU, with Season 3 of the latter set to be the death knell when it arrives later this year.
The move has been a long time coming. Iron Fist was cancelled in October last year after two seasons, and just a week later Luke Cage was canned too. That wasn't promising for fans of the universe, and even less so considering the news came on the eve of Daredevil Season 3. Within another month, Daredevil was gone as well.
That meant the writing was very much on the wall for The Punisher before its second season had even aired. Exactly a month after that dropped on Netflix, Netflix dropped it, and Jessica Jones besides. It marks a stark turnaround in fortunes for this dark corner of the MCU, given it was lauded as one of the best things Marvel had ever done when it first launched back in 2015.
Those heights seem a long way off now that all of the respective shows have been cancelled, but what exactly led to their demise?