Netflix Cancels Marvel’s Luke Cage After Only Two Seasons
Only a week after Iron Fist was canceled by Netflix, as reported by The Inquisitr last week, Marvel’s Luke Cage has met a similar fate according to Deadline.
“Unfortunately, Marvel’s ‘Luke Cage’ will not return for a third season,” Marvel and the streaming service said on Friday.
“Everyone at Marvel Television and Netflix is grateful to the dedicated showrunner, writers, cast and crew who brought Harlem’s Hero to life for the past two seasons, and to all the fans who have supported the series.”
The show meeting its untimely end has been a shock to many.
The show’s writing room has been working on a story for the third season for some time now and Mike Colter, who plays the titular character of the series, was still under contract with the company, leading many to think the show’s third season was an inevitability.
Due to rising tensions between the creatives in charge of the show and the company funding it over the past 48 hours, however, that inevitability became an impossibility.
The demise of Luke Cage comes down to a combination of “creative differences” and the uncertainty about Marvel’s future on Netflix, according to sources familiar with the matter told Deadline.
Luke Cage has been axed by Netflix after two seasons. https://t.co/YpA2pmKf5Q
— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) October 20, 2018
The writer’s room had their work put on hold for a week in September as Netflix and Marvel, who are owned by corporate giant Disney, had meetings to reduce the number of episodes in the then-upcoming third season from 13 to 10.
These meetings led to behind-the-scenes issues that ultimately led to calls for changes in the show’s creative team.
With pressure and unhappiness on both the corporate and creative sides of the show, it seems the corporate brass opted to cut their losses and uproot the project instead of trying to work things out.
Changes to the creative team have not been unprecedented when it comes to Marvel’s Netflix efforts, however.
There have been new showrunners on every single season of Daredevil, the second and ultimately final season of Iron Fist and Jessica Jones showrunner Melissa Rosenberg is set to jump ship and go to WBTV after the third season is completed.
A major factor in the decision to cancel the show might be due to the rumors Disney is planning to launch their own streaming service in the future and is looking to minimize their relationship with Netflix ahead of the move.
There’s no confirmation either way about whether shows like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, or The Punisher might be on the chopping block next, but if those shows meet their end as well it would be a sure sign the once fruitful relationship between Netflix and Marvel might be on its last legs.
