Marvel’s ‘The Punisher,’ ‘Jessica Jones’ Canceled at Netflix

By Alex Stedman

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The last of Netflix’s Marvel shows are officially ending.

“The Punisher” has been canceled after its second season, and the upcoming third season of “Jessica Jones” will be its last,  confirmed on Monday. The announcement comes after Netflix gave the ax to its other Marvel series: “Daredevil,” “Iron First,” and “Luke Cage.”

“Marvel’s ‘’ will not return for a third season on Netflix,” Netflix said in a statement. “Showrunner Steve Lightfoot, the terrific crew, and exceptional cast including star Jon Bernthal, delivered an acclaimed and compelling series for fans, and we are proud to showcase their work on Netflix for years to come. In addition, in reviewing our Marvel programming, we have decided that the upcoming third season will also be the final season for Marvel’s ‘.’ 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. We are grateful to Marvel for five years of our fruitful partnership and thank the passionate fans who have followed these series from the beginning.”

Marvel TV boss Jeph Loeb also published a letter to fans shortly after news broke, thanking the viewers and saying, in part, “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.”

Later on Monday, “Jessica Jones” star Krysten Ritter posted a picture from the table read of the series finale on Instagram. “The final season of #JessicaJones is coming later this year and I am proud of how we complete JJ’s journey,” she wrote. “I can’t wait for you all to see it.”

Following the other cancellations, the news is hardly a surprise. “Luke Cage” and “Iron Fist” were canceled this past October and “Daredevil,” the first of the Netflix-Marvel partnership to debut in 2015, was canceled in December despite a well received third season.

The decision comes as Disney prepares to launch its own streaming service, Disney+. That project is already lining up several high-profile projects, including series based on Marvel Cinematic Universe characters Loki, Scarlet Witch, and Falcon, in addition to “Star Wars” show “The Mandalorian.”

Disney+, however, shouldn’t give fans hope that the Defenders will fight on anytime soon. Sources told Variety last year the deal for the original four Marvel shows prevents the characters from appearing in any non-Netflix property for at least two years after cancellation.

Deadline first reported the news of the cancellations.