Long before Disney+ was even a blip on the radar, Marvel shows lived on Netflix. Beginning with the first season of "Daredevil" in 2015, a parallel team of heroes began building on the platform, with "Jessica Jones," "Luke Cage" and "Iron Fist" all leading into the crossover limited series "The Defenders." Throw "The Punisher" into the mix, and it's not an exaggeration to say that the largest stable of superhero shows out there for quite a while was on Netflix. What's more, they were highly acclaimed and popular with fans, especially "Daredevil" and "Jessica Jones."
So it came as a shock when the Marvel shows on Netflix started getting cancelled in 2019. A shock . . . but perhaps not a total surprise. This was just before we started hearing about Disney+. Even if no one was outright saying it to the press, it made sense that Marvel's parent company Disney would rather have Marvel superheroes on their own streaming platform. (And in fact, "Daredevil" star Vincent D'Onofrio has since chalked the cancellations up to Disney+.)
Since then, there have been signs that we should expect another shift. "Daredevil" stars D'Onofrio (Kingpin) and Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil) just crossed over into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in "Hawkeye" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home" respectively. Marvel hasn't announced any plans for the rest of the Defenders, but with Daredevil and Kingpin already brought in it opens the door for the other characters, as well.
Of course, the "Daredevil" show itself is currently still on Netflix, and it saw a huge bump in viewership when D'Onofrio and Cox turned up in the MCU. Disney could not have been happy that it was giving its competitor Netflix a boost.
The whole family of Marvel's Defenders shows are leaving Netflix
It was only a matter of time until we got some kind of announcement that the Defenders family of shows would be leaving Netflix, and now it seems that announcement is here. Per What's-On-Netflix, all of the Marvel shows currently on Netflix are showing removal notices that state they'll be leaving the service on March 1, 2022. It should be noted that these notices only show up under specific circumstances, like when you first begin watching one of these series but not on rewatch, so there's still some room for skepticism. But whether this is a coding error or a sign that Netflix is still in the process of officially announcing the removal of the shows, it's still a legit information grab from the platform itself.
Here are all the shows slated to leave Netflix on March 1:
- "Daredevil" (Seasons 1-3)
- "Jessica Jones" (Seasons 1-3)
- "Luke Cage" (Seasons 1-2)
- "Iron Fist" (Seasons 1-2)
- "The Defenders" (Limited Series)
- "The Punisher" (Seasons 1-2)
That's over 160 episodes worth of content, which is a lot to be leaving Netflix all at once. March 1 is just under a month away, which means that if you want to rewatch those shows before they're gone from Netflix, the clock is ticking.
Where will you be able to watch the Defenders shows after March 1?
As of now, nothing has been announced regarding where you'll be able to watch "Daredevil," "Jessica Jones" and the rest after they leave Netflix on March 1. The obvious assumption is that they'll be moving to Disney+, but without any solid confirmation or a date, we can't say for certain when or even if that's happening.
We'll be on the lookout for any new information about when these shows will be making their reappearance. With Daredevil and Kingpin already in the MCU, there's plenty of reason to be optimistic.
For now, "Daredevil," "Jessica Jones," "Luke Cage," "Iron Fist," "The Punisher," and "The Defenders" are available on Netflix for a little longer. If you start now, you might even be able to watch them all before then.
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