Now that Marvel Television is without their stable of Netflix shows, the production house will eventually — in a year or two — be able to shop the Defenders characters around again. According to one star of The Punisher, Marvel has “something in store” for the future of their “Defendersverse.”
Videos by ComicBook.com
Talking to ComicBook.com earlier today, The Punisher star Royce Johnson is never saying never when it comes to the future of the Marvel-based shows that previously had a home at Netflix.
“Yeah, I’ve gotten..one call and two texts, saying, ‘It’s been a great journey,’” Johnson says of the immediate reaction of the show’s cancellation. “We had a nice phone call, a nice chat, saying, ‘Hopefully, we’ll meet again down the line.’ And it would be great if we could meet down the line as those same characters.”
“It would be great,” continues Johnson. “I don’t think that Marvel is the type of company that will sit down and not revamp. It’s got something in store, so I’m wishing for the best with this.”
Immediately after Netflix announced the cancellation of The Punisher and Jessica Jones, Marvel TV boss Jeph Loeb teased the future of the shows, saying that he was confident they won’t stay down for long.
“Our Network partner may have decided they no longer want to continue telling the tales of these great characters… but you know Marvel better than that,” Loeb wrote, throwing some shade at Netflix for its decisions. “As Matthew Murdock’s Dad once said, ‘The measure of a man is not how he gets knocked to the mat, it’s how he gets back up.’
“To be continued…!”
As of now, there’s no way in telling what direction Marvel Television will end up going. It appears that Netflix put a clause into their contracts that prohibit the characters in their series from showing up in non-Netflix properties for two years past a show’s cancellation.
After that timeline is up, however, Loeb and company will have several options at their disposal, including relocating the shows to Hulu or a network like FX. Once the highly-anticipated Disney/Fox deal closes sometime over the course of the next few months, Disney will own 60% of Hulu in addition to owning FX and it’s sister station FXX outright, with both channels certainly matching the tone of the Netflix shows.
Do you think The Punisher will be back? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or join the conversation on Twitter by hitting me up at @AdamBarnhardt! Johnson can be found on Instagram at @IAmRoyceJohnson.
Both seasons of The Punisher are now streaming on Netflix. Johnson also appears in the 17 episodes of Daredevil, another show that’s streaming in its entirety on Netflix.
