Well, he’s a hero for hire now, and perhaps it was inevitable. Netflix has canceled their first Marvel show: “Iron Fist” will not be coming back for a third season.
In a joint statement released to the media on late Friday, Netflix and Marvel said, “Marvel’s Iron Fist will not return for a third season on Netflix. Everyone at Marvel Television and Netflix is proud of the series and grateful for all of the hard work from our incredible cast, crew, and showrunners. We’re thankful to the fans who have watched these two seasons, and for the partnership, we’ve shared on this series. While the series on Netflix has ended, the Immortal Iron Fist will live on.”
On the one hand, it’s almost a shocker. Marvel has shown no signs of slowing down their Netflix shows and greenlight additional seasons, no matter the response. On the other hand, “Iron Fist,” Marvel’s fourth Netflix show following “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones” and “Luke Cage” was the first Marvel Netflix show to receive nearly universally poor reviews straight out of the gate—a first for the superhero shows on the streaming channel (my review of season one called the banality of the show a “roundhouse kick to the face“).
Perhaps it’s a sign of things to come. While “Iron Fist” season two was greenlight following the poor reviews of the inaugural season, and Netflix doesn’t release any metrics, success numbers or otherwise, it’s pretty clear no one really watched season two, given it just debuted over a month ago in early September—this wasn’t a decision both companies had to spend long thinking about.
The irony is “Iron Fist” season two received more charitable reviews; many critics, including ours, called the follow-up season an improvement. Season two brought in a new showrunner, Raven Metzner (“Sleepy Hollow”) replacing Scott Buck, plus an entirely new writer’s room, but evidently, Netflix’s metrics showed, and rather quickly, that the cost vs. viewership ratio and slightly-improved reviews weren’t enough.
The news comes on the very day that reviews for “Daredevil” season three have arrived—they’re mostly positive so far, but it’s early days (and personally, if I were reviewing the show, and I’m not, it would likely receive a rotten RT score).
The news also arrives as Disney prepares their own streaming channel to launch in Q4 of 2019 with new Marvel limited series that won’t be available anywhere else (“Loki” and “Scarlet Witch” shows are rumored). Four shows remain on Netflix, “Jessica Jones,” “Daredevil,” “Luke Cage” and “The Punisher,” but they won’t jump ship and will apparently stay on Netflix until they’ve run their course or get canceled like “Iron Fist” (“The Defenders” show looks like it’s also already dead).
Personally, to me, it feels like the bloom has fallen off the rose with critics and Marvel’s Netflix show. The once mighty “Jessica Jones” received middling reviews with season two and one gets the sense there’s probably one left in the tank for it, “Luke Cage” and “The Punisher,” but perhaps season three of “Daredevil” will revive the narrative for the overall partnerships and shows. Fans have been waiting for the day the Netflix shows crossover with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that’s highly unlikely. I don’t pretend to know the inner workings of Marvel’s Netflix deals, but I assume Finn Jones, aka Danny Rand/Iron Fist, is probably a free agent and won’t be popping up here and there in the Netflix MCU, but I guess time will tell.
