Rights To The Punisher And Jessica Jones Have Reverted Back To Marvel Studios
The MCU now has even more heroes at their disposal
Two years after their solo shows were cancelled by Netflix, The Punisher and Jessica Jones are the newest Marvel heroes due to return home! The rights for these characters have now fully reverted back to Marvel Studios to be used in future big screen outings.
Along with Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, Punisher and Jessica Jones were tied into a deal with with Netflix which had each of them streaming their own shows before combining a Avengers-like fashion for The Defenders.
This was part of Marvel’s strategy to focus on street-level characters with TV shows, having them loosely connected to the MCU. Each show ran for at least two seasons, with Luke Cage and Iron First being the first to be canned in 2018. A month or so after came the cancellation of Daredevil, and then in 2019 came the end of Jessica Jones and spin-off show The Punisher.
Due to the Netflix/Marvel contract including a clause stating the characters could not be used in any non-Netflix media until two years after cancellation, it is now time for these two heroes to be free of the streaming service.
The question now is whether or not stars Krysten Ritter and Jon Bernthal will be asked back to play their respective characters at Marvel Studios. The pair won fans over in their solo shows, so it may be a smart move for Kevin Feige and his team to keep the actors in the fold.
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Also, with news of Charlie Cox returning as Matt Murdock/Daredevil for the third Spider-Man film, could this show that the Netflix actors will be employed by Marvel Studios at some point in the future?
Kristen Ritter’s Jessica Jones featured the title character as a hard drinking, troubled private-eye who helps the citizens of New York…usually with a scowl. Bernthal’s The Punisher featured character Frank Castle (whom we first met in Daredevil Season 2), a lethal vigilante exacting revenge on the criminal underworld after the deaths of his wife and children.
Marvel is yet to announce any news regarding the future of these characters on the big or small screen.
