Why Netflix Will Cancel The Punisher

3. The Declining Interest In Marvel Shows

The reason The Punisher hasn't been cancelled yet (and the same goes here for Jessica Jones) is a fairly simple one: Season 2 was confirmed in December 2017, just a month after airing, and entered production back in March of this year, with filming then wrapping in August. All of this was long before Netflix had cancelled any of these shows, and it's difficult to hype an upcoming show while also canning it. Combined with the cost that's already gone into making it, there's no sense in not airing the show or announcing its cancellation before releasing it.

Netflix infamously don't release viewing stats for their shows, which makes it harder to contextualise the cancellations, since there isn't hard ratings data to go on. But looking at other metrics, the Marvel shows have been declining. For example, a report from Crimson Hexagon for Business Insider, looking at social media trends, showed that online buzz had dramatically decreased between seasons for Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. Since The Punisher has only had one season so far it couldn't be measured, but given the trend even affected Daredevil it's unlikely The Punisher will be spared.

Likewise, data from analytics company Jumpshot, provided to Screen Rant, showed that Netflix Marvel shows had been in decline since Daredevil Season 2, based upon clicks and contained to just the U.S. The Punisher did actually represent a slight bounce back from The Defenders according to their data, but it was still lower than Daredevil's second season, and the firsts of Luke Cage and Iron Fist.

Even without exact viewing figures, the signs all point to these shows losing significant amounts of viewers, although that's not the only issue for Netflix.