Sadly, the era of Marvel's Netflix Television series' seems to be over. With all of the shows canceled and the original rights for some returning to Marvel, it's unlikely that fans will get to see the fourth season of Daredevil or a second season of The Defenders. That being said, there is still a devoted fan base for these short-lived shows, as we can see from this talented group of cosplayers.
Starting back in 2015 with Daredevil, Netflix was essentially planning a TV/streaming version of the MCU. Using some of Marvel's more grounded, "street-level heroes," the streaming giant created an interconnected TV universe, much like Marvel Studios had been doing with their films since 2008's Iron Man. This included Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and the crossover series The Defenders. The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), who was introduced in the second season of Daredevil, even got his own spin-off series.
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A group of cosplayers has brought the many characters from these shows to life in a photo taken by New Jersey-based photographer @it.is.cosplay. The image was recently posted on the Instagram account of @cagednerd, a cosplayer who has a particular affinity for the Marvel character Luke Cage. If you browse his Instagram, you'll be treated to many different renditions of this popular character. Making up the rest of the photo is pretty much the entire cast of heroes and villains from the Marvel Netflix shows. Also credited in the photo are @samanthas_cosplay as Jessica Jones, @the_lawless_gentleman as Daredevil, @the_big_bad_punisher as The Punisher, @paul_might as Iron Fist, @gothamgeekgirl_cosplay as Elektra, @domcharland as Killgrave, @bunnymightgameu as Misty Knight, @munchabunchcosplay as Karen Page, @lyza_cosplay as Night Nurse, @jacobellaluongo as Trish Walker, and Michael Barretto as Kingpin.
While these shows were met with a mixed critical response, they developed a strong fan base, which made it all the more surprising when they were all unceremoniously canceled by 2019. Despite Netflix's claims that these shows brought in huge viewership numbers, it's likely that Marvel pulled the plug on their deal with the streamer in the wake of a new streaming service: Disney Plus. From the get-go, it was clear that Marvel Studios and Disney Plus were going to use this new platform to produce high quilty TV shows like WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier which would tie in with their popular films, but sadly that meant the end for the Netflix shows.
It's not entirely clear why these shows couldn't exist in unison, but it's likely due to Marvel and Disney wanting to have more control and the desire to have all of their content available on one dedicated platform. After all, even though the Netflix shows technically took place in the MCU, they were barely connected in any meaningful way, with just a few references here and there. They were also tonally completely different, with the Netflix shows being marketed to a more "adult" audience, dealing with subjects such as very real-world trauma and extreme violence. However, Marvel just recently regained the rights to Jessica Jones and The Punisher, which has some fans speculating on whether they could see these characters join the MCU in the future.
Daredevil actor Charlie Cox was recently rumored to have been spotted on the set of the upcoming MCU film Spider-Man: No Way Home, so perhaps there's hope. Fans will just have to wait and see, and until then one of the ways they can keep these characters alive is through cosplay, as we can see in the aforementioned photo.
Daredevil and the other Netflix Marvel TV series are streaming exclusively on the service.
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Source: @cagednerd | Instagram