'Daredevil' Season 4 Was Actually Planned Out Before Netflix Canceled It

After three seasons, Netflix has canceled Marvel’s Daredevil, the acclaimed superhero series that kicked off an entire franchise semi-separate from the films produced by Marvel Studios. But the “entire” fourth season was mapped out on paper, says one series writer.

On Thursday, Netflix and Marvel announced the formal cancellation of Marvel’s Daredevil, the gritty superhero drama based on the character created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Bill Everett. Hours afterward, series writer Sam Ernst tweeted that there were concrete story plans for a fourth season that would have provided “So many moments we wanted fans to see.”

“Man, so weird to be in the Daredevil writers room today, getting the news that we’re cancelled,” tweeted Ernst. “On the walls were an entire season 4 laid out - and it was so f*g cool. So many moments we wanted the fans to see… Sigh, this business.”

Ernst later tweeted, “Hard to express how cool it is to write dialogue knowing that Charlie Cox or @vincentdonofrio or @DeborahAnnWoll would make it sing. Or read the tweets from fans, what they got (everything), how they binged it like I binge my faves. One show, so many relationships, so many feels.”

Just a few days prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, Erik Oleson tweeted he pitched Season 4 to Netflix, further confirming a Season 4 was in some kind of development until Netflix’s official cancellation.

The series premiered its third, and now final, season back in October 2018.

Deadline initially broke the news that Daredevil was officially canceled with a statement from Netflix. “Marvel’s Daredevil will not return for a fourth season on Netflix,” said the streaming service. “We are tremendously proud of the show’s last and final season and although it’s painful for the fans, we feel it best to close this chapter on a high note.”

Season 3 was indeed a high note for the series; the critics’ score for the season rests at a mighty 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, and an audience score of 96%.

The popularity of Daredevil, which premiered in the spring of 2015, kicked off even more Marvel shows at Netflix, including Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher. And with the exception of the crossover Defenders — confirmed to be a one-off production from the start — each show received at least a second season.

Related video: Rewatch the Season 3 teaser featuring the return of Daredevil’s black costume.

But the end of the series all but confirms what the past year in entertainment news, including the blockbuster acquisition of 20th Century Fox by Disney, has been building up to: Netflix and Marvel’s parent company Disney have reached the end of a partnership as Disney diverts resources to its own streaming service, Disney+, launching in 2019.

It is currently unknown if any of the Marvel/Netflix shows will continue at Disney+. As of now, existing seasons of all the Marvel shows will remain at Netflix, “while the Daredevil character will live on in future projects for Marvel” said Netflix in its statement.