The Defenders, Netflix and Marvel’s highly anticipated team-up between the MCU’s streaming heroes — Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist — was fairly underwhelming. So, while the various Defenders are gearing up for second and third seasons of their solo shows, don’t expect a Defenders 2 anytime soon.
Jeph Loeb, the executive vice president of Marvel television, took part in a Reddit AMA on Thursday, and several Marvel fans asked questions about the future of The Defenders. One straight-up asked “Will The Defenders get a second season?” and Loeb gave a pretty clear answer.
“Not in the plans right now, but you never know!” he wrote, seemingly indicating that there isn’t another season in the works at the moment. Perhaps more ominously, though, was Loeb’s non-answer on the long-term fate of Netflix’s Marvel shows.
“The Netflix corner of Marvel TV interests me deeply in many ways,” one redditor asked. “I suppose the most pertinent question is, is there a ‘plan’ that culminates to something like the Defenders on that front, and is the longevity of those shows still high despite Disney’s upcoming streaming service?”
“Stay tuned,” is all Loeb responded.
The future of Netflix’s Marvel shows is somewhat unclear. Luke Cage Season 2 premieres on June 22, and Iron First Season 2 and Daredevil Season 3 are both slotted to hit the streaming service in 2018. Netflix is also making a second season of The Punisher, though it’s unknown when fans can expect that. After those shows though, there’s nothing officially on the board, which wouldn’t be a cause for concern if Disney wasn’t also launching its own streaming service.
See, Disney owns Marvel, which means that any shows they’d make for their own streaming service would be entirely theirs — as would the profits. Disney has to share with Netflix the same way it needs to share with Hulu for Runaways and Freeform for Cloak and Dagger. There’s no confirmation that Marvel plans on attempting to bring all its shows under the sole ownership of the House of Mouse, but it’s well within the realm of possibility. Loeb’s “stay tuned” doesn’t exactly inspire confidence one way or another. All fans can do for now is exactly that: “stay tuned” while corporations plan out their financial and creative future.
But, hey, it ain’t all looming corporate speak. Elsewhere in the AMA, Loeb strongly hinted that Iron Fist would be getting a more comics-accurate costume, telling one inquiring fan “You’ll be very happy with Season 2 coming this year!”
