Each time Netflix announces the cancellation of one of their Marvel series—Daredevil, Luke Cage, etc.—I shrug, say “Hm, interesting,” and return to marathoning Cheers. Today, I receive my comeuppance: Netflix is axing Jessica Jones.
According to The Wrap, the streaming service has booted both the Krysten Ritter-led superhero series and The Punisher from its repertoire. The good news is, Jessica Jones isn’t quite dead, as production already wrapped on its third season, though it will be the series’ last. Per a statement:
In addition, in reviewing our Marvel programming, we have decided that the upcoming third season will also be the final season for Marvel’s Jessica Jones. We are grateful to showrunner Melissa Rosenberg, star Krysten Ritter and the entire cast and crew for three incredible seasons of this groundbreaking series, which was recognized by the Peabody Awards among many others. We are grateful to Marvel for five years of our fruitful partnership and thank the passionate fans who have followed these series from the beginning.
The cancellations mark the end of a once-fruitful six-year partnership between Netflix and Marvel Studios—Marvel will release original content on Disney+, its parent company’s new streaming service set to launch in late 2019.
I am genuinely bummed about losing Jessica Jones, a raw and volatile series about the balance of power, strength, and unbearable pain. Though the second season was a tad weaker than its explosive first, like its predecessor, I appreciated its ability to explore how women walk through the world. I am 4’11 and so weak I can’t unscrew a Diet Coke bottle without help, and so I found Jessica Jones particularly captivating—her superhuman strength opened up spaces that are unavailable to me, and yet in some ways it made her even more of a target. Women, after all, are never truly safe from pain.
Jessica Jones’s third and final season will stream at a yet-to-be-announced date.