As if the snap heard ‘round the world hadn’t taken enough innocent souls, Marvel fans the last couple of weeks heard the news of both Iron Fist and Luke Cage being canceled for future seasons on Netflix. This decision came as quite a shock to many, and theories as to why the cancellations happened have been flying about. As any good scientist knows, theories are nothing without facts, so let’s look at what we know and go from there.
Iron Fist was the far less surprising victim of cancellation in this scenario. Season 1 was not received well by fans and critics alike, and the character continued to be an awkward fit in The Defenders series. No matter what our beloved Knight of Flowers did, Danny Rand was just not written very well, and he by far had the least amount of chemistry among all of our Netflix-based superheroes. Hell, the antithesis of The Hand was probably the least organic component of a show about defeating The Hand. His cancellation, while a shame considering the increased quality of the second season, is not quite out of left field.
Luke Cage, however, was much more surprising. This show had the most unique tone out of all of the Marvel Netflix properties–arguably out of all the Marvel properties in general–and boasted a stellar cast with massive appeal. Audiences loved it. But our beloved Power Man has bit the dust as well, leaving fans with confusion comparable to anyone trying to keep up with what the hell the DC cinematic universe is trying to do. To quote 4 Non Blondes, what’s going on?
I think the answer lies with Disney’s–the mouse-eared entertainment conglomerate who owns Marvel productions–upcoming streaming service. Similar to Netflix and Hulu, Disney is seeking to offer its very own TV and movie streaming service sometime in early 2019 (though an official date has yet to be released). Such a service is already planned to offer Netflix-esque TV series centered on Loki and Scarlet Witch. With this service on the horizon, it should come as no surprise that Disney would want to pull its productions from other competing streaming services. Disney pulls support for the project at Netflix, and Netflix is forced to bend the knee and cancel the series so that Disney can use the characters for its own service. Don’t be too surprised if the same happens soon with the Defenders, Daredevil, The Punisher, and Jessica Jones as well. But why Luke Cage and Iron Fist first?
The most attractive and sensical theory is that one of the release titles that Disney will offer with its streaming service is Heroes for Hire, a show depicting Iron Fist and Luke Cage as a contract service for superheroes similar to their role in the comics. This is a great idea on Disney’s part because 1) it will give Iron Fist, a character less liked than the average Marvel protagonist, a chance to be seen in his better-known capacity alongside a fan favorite in Luke Cage, and because 2) it will capitalize on characters that the public will still be missing by then, drawing more consumers to its streaming service. Also, 3) it gives Disney the chance to continue expanding the street-level Marvel Universe without skipping a beat having to introduce entirely new characters. There is also a theory that Disney will also be offering a companion show to Heroes for Hire called Daughters of the Dragon featuring fan favorites Misty Knight and Colleen Wing. I’m not sure the title would have the same mass appeal and pull as Heroes for Hire will, but maybe it’ll be a stage 2 product after getting a feel for how HfH goes.
I for one have mixed feelings about all of this. It’s sad to see Luke Cage be pulled, but I do love the Heroes for Hire dynamic that he has with Rand in the comics. Whether that chemistry will be seen on TV depends largely on whether Disney’s writing team can do better with Iron Fist than what we’ve seen. There’s also the potential problem of market saturation: how many streaming services are there gonna be before people just get tired of having to keep up subscriptions for 8 different companies just to watch the few shows they want? Disney streaming is going to be a huge success just because of the properties they have to offer and the capital they have to pour into it, but what will it mean for other companies that follow suit? Economics 101: Competition is only desirable when the consumer ultimately benefits. Few people are going to benefit from shelling out $100 every month in subscription fees.
So don’t worry your beautiful, intelligent heads, friends. Luke Cage and Iron Fist are sure to be back in some capacity. It’ll just cost you that extra $15 a month.
