Daredevil Season 3 and the Future of Marvel on Netflix


You Win Some, You Lose Some

Marvel Netflix has had a busy couple of months. The release of Iron Fist season 2 with a condensed 10-episode season was met with great praise. It upped the action and seemed to fix many of the complaints from season 1. Shortly after Iron Fist season 2 was released, it was announced Daredevil season 3 would be premiering a month away on October 19. Things were looking good for fans of the Marvel Netflix shows. And then the hammer came down. It was announced that season 2 of Iron Fist would be its last. If that wasn’t shocking enough, a week later it was announced Luke Cage was also being canceled after its second season. Two shows canceled in two weeks right during the premiere of Daredevil season 3! This has obviously left fans with lots of questions.

The Devil Came To Town

marvel netflix shows, mostly cancelled
Mostly canceled. Alas.

Let us start off by talking about Daredevil Season 3. With the return of Wilson Fisk and the addition of Bullseye, DD season 3 was pretty great. Daredevil has been pretty much the high water mark for the other Marvel Netflix series. Season 1 was fantastic and while season 2 had some downfalls it was still a solid watch. Daredevil also continues to boast the best fight scenes and season 3 did not let up, with the memorable episode 4 one-shot prison fight scene and the clashes between Daredevil and Bullseye. It did suffer a little from the pacing issues that seem to plague every Marvel Netflix series. Overall, though, DD season 3 was stellar.

With Daredevil season 3 being great, and with a solid ending, it would be a shame not to get a season 4. Matt, Foggy and Karen are finally back together and we have to get more of Bullseye. If DD does get a season 4, where does that leave the rest of The Defenders? Luke Cage and Danny Rand will not be getting a season 3. Jessica Jones is getting a third season and The Punisher is also getting a second season. Is this letting Marvel Netflix clear the slate for some new heroes, or something else?

Heroes for Hire/Daughters of the Dragon

Iron Fist promo image from Netflix

Both Luke Cage and Iron Fist ended on some dramatic cliffhangers that set up what could have been interesting season 3’s. With Luke Cage taking over the underworld of Harlem and Iron Fist globetrotting while Colleen wields the Iron Fist at home I was very excited to see where we would be taken in season 3.

My first thought when seeing both Iron Fist and Luke Cage had been canceled was “we are definitely getting a Heroes for Hire show.” I would absolutely adore a Heroes for Hire show. But, where both seasons left off that seems like it would be hard to come around to. Now, a Daughters of the Dragon show with Misty Knight and Colleen Wing would make more logical sense. They are both in New York still and still relatively in the same space. 

I am still holding out we will get a Heroes for Hire show featuring Danny, Luke, Colleen, and Misty. But the way each series ended makes it seem like a slim chance. It is a shame, too, as the actors had great chemistry with each other on their own respective shows and The Defenders. I can see why logistically this would not work. But I am sure the writers could work around all this. So, if we don’t get Heroes for Hire, is this leaving the door open for some new heroes? Or is Marvel slowly fading out on Netflix in favor of Disney’s own streaming service?

New Heroes, Old Foes

Moon Knight would be cool.

Losing two series seems like a great way to introduce some new heroes into Marvel’s Netflix corner. People have been clamoring for a while for Moon Knight to make some appearance in the MCU, and the violent hero seems like a perfect match on Netflix. Maybe we will get to see Marc Spector come to the screen as a new hero of New York City? Plus with the acquisition of the X-Men and Fantastic Four properties, there is a bevy of heroes that Marvel could bring to the streaming platform.

I for one would love to see Moon Knight on Netflix. His more violent tendencies and mental health issues could be explored greatly in a 13-episode series. I would almost say it is a given that a new show featuring a Marvel hero would be coming soon to Netflix. However, now that Disney has their own streaming service and has made many announcements like Loki and Scarlet Witch getting shows and a possible Bucky/Falcon show, it seems that Marvel Netflix maybe slowly fading away.

A Whole New World

Disney’s own streaming platform obviously throws a huge wrench into having anymore Marvel shows on Netflix. Why pay them when you can do it yourself? Plus Disney using already-established heroes from the MCU movies and higher budget already puts them ahead. Netflix could still be used for more grounded “adult” stories to be told, but will the interest still hold when Disney launches their service?

It has been reported that the reason Luke Cage and Iron Fist were dropped was because of a strong decline in viewership. Plus social media chatter was down after the first seasons. Since Netflix does not really announce viewing numbers, it is hard to determine how any show is really doing. Whatever it was, it was enough for them to drop the axe on both shows. With Disney wanting to highlight their own streaming service, this might be the swan song for our Defenders on Netflix.

A Different Format

My biggest complaint with Marvel’s Netflix shows is that they all seem to take place within a few weeks or at most a one-month timeline. I am not 100% sold that this is the best format for these superhero shows. Take Daredevil season 3, for example: I enjoyed it a lot, but the 13 episodes felt like they happened in a week or two time period. For all the Netflix Marvel shows it feels like they try to cram a lot into the story in a very short time period. It just feels like a lot of these shows we could get a lot more from if they got away from this format. I would like them to try something like The Flash or Arrow. Be a little more episodic than serial. They could still have an ongoing plot building up while doing more stand-alone episodes.

I feel this would help the Marvel Netflix shows some. It is also a big reason I didn’t finish Cloak and Dagger. I get that they are building up the characters, but they could have sped it up a lot more. I mean, I want to see my heroes doing superhero stuff. The Netflix shows, in particular, feel a little too bogged down by their formula, and it needs some tweaking. Maybe a mixture of serial and episodic to change the momentum up a little bit.


Nobody truly knows what will become of Marvel Netflix. Will all the shows be canceled? Will we get a new batch of heroes to follow? Only time will tell. We still do have Jessica Jones season 3 and The Punisher season 2 to look forward to. So they will be around for the first part of 2019 at least. After that, who knows? What do you think will become of Marvel’s Netflix shows? Comment and let us know your theories as to what will become of them!


Social Media logo PatreonFollow Word of the Nerd on


Social Media logo Twitch

There’s a little bit of nerd in everyone!

About the author

Brent Jackson



Check out our YouTube Channel

%d bloggers like this: