Despite what we had heard previously, the canceled Marvel shows that used to live on Netflix could eventually find a home on Disney+. This comes from Kevin Mayer, who serves as chairman of Disney's direct-to-consumer business, a position he was appointed to earlier this year, that ultimately puts him in charge of the company's forthcoming streaming service.
While it may not be time to get anyone's hopes up, Daredevil, Luke Cage and even Iron Fist could have new life.
It has previously been reported that Disney executives had no interest in bringing any of The Defenders over to Disney+. Not only that, but the nature of the contracts that made these shows possible in the first place seemingly made it quite difficult for such a move to happen in the future. However, Kevin Mayer, in a recent interview about the company's plans for Disney+, has a very different view on the situation. Here's what he had to say about it.
"They are very high-quality shows. We haven't yet discussed that, but I would say that's a possibility."
What we know for sure is that Disney is already planning on bringing their own Marvel TV shows to the service. But those shows will be tied in far more directly to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A Loki series starring Tom Hiddleston having been announced, with other shows centered on Scarlet Witch, as well as Bucky and Falcon also in the works.
Even though the Netflix shows, specifically Daredevil, were very popular and well-liked, the overall strategy that Disney has in mind for their streaming service could conflict with the idea of porting these shows over, even down the road. As far as the overall strategy goes, Kevin Mayer says that the goal is to have any and all Disney content available only on Disney+. If old seasons of the Netflix Marvel shows are still on Netflix, that may conflict a bit. Mayer was asked specifically about Netflix's decision to shell out a ton of money to keep Friends, as WarnerMedia, who holds the rights to the sitcom, looks to launch their own streaming service as well next year.
"I'm sure [WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey] had his reasons, but when we were faced with a similar decision, to take [our programming] off in preparation to put it on our own service, that was right for us. We will continue to do that. Ultimately our direct-to-consumer service is going to be the only place you can find that content."
At the very least, even if Disney does decide they want to make this happen, a previous report revealed that, because of the contracts with Netflix, they would have to wait until at least 2020 to do so. Who knows? Maybe Marvel will just bring Daredevil to the big screen instead. The Punisher season 2 and Jessica Jones season 3 are still set to air on Netflix in 2019, but it's expected that they will also be canceled swiftly after their new episodes drop. This news was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.