Netflix cancels Jessica Jones and The Punisher – its last two Marvel shows

Jessica Jones and Luke Cage
Jessica Jones and Luke Cage (Image Credit: Netflix) (Image credit: Netflix)

Netflix has announced that it will cancel all future seasons of Jessica Jones and The Punisher. The former is just about to release its third season on Netflix while the latter just had its second season debut in January. 

The scripts for the shows will join Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Daredevil in the great garbage bin in the sky and signify the end of an era for the streaming service.

In a statement sent to Deadline about the cancellations, Netflix thanked the casts and crews of the shows for their hard work and said that it still plans on releasing the last season of Jessica Jones later this year: “We are grateful to showrunner Melissa Rosenberg, star Krysten Ritter and the entire cast and crew, for three incredible seasons of this groundbreaking series, which was recognized by the Peabody Awards among many others”.  

In the same statement, Netflix also said that the series will still be available to watch on the streaming service for some time to come and thanked both Marvel and their fans for “five years of our fruitful partnership and ... the passionate fans who have followed these series from the beginning.”

Bye Felicia ... er, Jessica

The cancellation isn't too surprising given the recent cancellations of Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Daredevil, but it's still unfortunate nonetheless.

While neither Netflix nor Marvel has come out with a clean answer as to why these shows are getting canned despite decent viewership and stalwart fanbases, some suspect that it has to do with a disagreement between the two media powerhouses and the imminent arrival of Disney’s own streaming service Disney+.

As of now, Disney hasn't said that it will port the shows over to its streaming service and instead has announced plans on creating new series for its service that star Loki, The Vision and Scarlet Witch. 

All that said, if you had your heart set on another season of these shows don't give up - Marvel TV studio head Jeph Loeb said in a letter to the fans that "Our Network partner may have decided they no longer want to continue telling the tales of these great characters… but you know Marvel better than that. As Matthew Murdock’s Dad once said, ‘The measure of a man is not how he gets knocked to the mat, it’s how he gets back up.' To be continued…!"  

Nick Pino

Nick Pino is Managing Editor, TV and AV for TechRadar's sister site, Tom's Guide. Previously, he was the Senior Editor of Home Entertainment at TechRadar, covering TVs, headphones, speakers, video games, VR and streaming devices. He's also written for GamesRadar+, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer and other outlets over the last decade, and he has a degree in computer science he's not using if anyone wants it.