Earlier in the year, Netflix and Disney announced a huge contract with each other. This would enable Netflix to have the rights to Disney’s stockpile of of of movies and TV series. In turn, Netflix subscribers will be able to stream most of their favorite Disney movies rather than continuing to buy new versions of their favorite movies i.e. video tapes to DVDs to Blue Ray. This deal was a huge payday for the Mouse corporation.
This Netflix deal with Disney has now extended further into Disney’s Marvel arm of movies and series. We have already seen many of the Marvel animated television series and movies on Netfix. My son loves watching the 1980’s Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. Now Disney and Marvel have taken it to the next level.
With the success of Marvel movies series like Thor, Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, and X-Men, and their live action show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Marvel will create 4 live action television series and a Miniseries for Netflix. Netflix has had great success creating their own original television series like Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Hemlock Grove, and the 4th Season of Arrested Development. This combination will give Marvel fans the ability to watch these new series when and where they like and will not have to worry about Network television canceling their super new show. Fans will be able to watch all 13 episodes at once without having to wait for the next episode to be releasedThis deal should be a win/win situation for both Disney and Netflix.
The first Marvel Live Action show on Netflix will be Daredevil. The current Daredevil comic series by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee has been critically acclaimed. The BenAffleck Daredevil movie fell a bit flat in the movie theaters but Marvel is convinced that a live action series could restore Daredevil to his rightful place. This series will focus on the blind Attorney Matt Murdock living in the bad neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen in New York. Because of a tragic accident that left Murdock blind, he was given special sensory abilities including a radar sense.
Following the release of the Daredevil series, Netflix will add a Jessica Jones series. Jessica Jones is a burned out superhero turned private investigator. The adult themed Alias comicbook made Jessica Jones a well known character. It is unknown how kid friendly this series will or won’t be.
Marvel will bring Luke Cage aka Power Man to the big screen. Cage was the second African American Marvel super hero. He has super strength and invulnerable skin. Cage is know for his early comparisons to the 70’s Shaft character. Cage was the first hero character to become a Hero For Hire so he could make money from doing good (think A-Team). In the comics, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage are a couple. An incarnation of Luke Cage’s character is currently teaming up with Spider-Man on Disney’s animated The Ultimate Spider-Man.
The final new character will be Iron Fist. Iron Fist is a martial arts expert with ability to make his fists glow and smash anything he hits. Iron Fist is best know for his partnership with Luke Cage in Heroes for Hire and the Power Man and Iron Fist comic. An incarnation of Iron Fist is also in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series.
Finally, Marvel will bring all four of these characters together, and maybe more, for a “Defenders” miniseries. The Defenders is a hero group similar to the Avengers but rarely gets the credit. In the comics, most of the Defenders teams have been lead by Doctor Strange. It will be interesting to see if Strange makes an appearance into this series.
There are a few questions that are up in the air from this announcement. Will these characters crossover into the movie worlds? Could we see the famous Avengers VS Defenders fight/team up from the 70’s? Will this just be Waive One of the Marvel shows if these 4 series are successful. I guess we will have to wait to see.
This news makes me very excited. To quote Stan Lee, Excelsior! (via Netflix)
Stay Geeky My Friends!
