There won’t be another resurrection for Marvel’s Daredevil, as Netflix decides not to renew the superhero series for a fourth season just weeks after the streaming service announced the one-two punch cancellations of Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Deadline was the first to break the news on Thursday.
Marvel’s Daredevil premiered in 2015 with Charlie Cox suiting up as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who uses his extraordinary senses to fight crime, corruption and injustice as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. The series received praise from critics and audiences as the redemption for the sins of the 2003 big-screen version with Oscar winner Ben Affleck in the title role alongside future ex-wife Jennifer Garner as Elektra, Jon Favreau as Foggy Nelson, Colin Farrell as Bullseye, and the late Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin.
The success of Marvel’s Daredevil led to the spin-off entitled The Punisher with Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle, a Marine who becomes a brutal one-man vigilante justice league against his family’s killers: a self-appointed judge, jury and executioner to those who do evil among others. Introduced in Daredevil’s second season, the character became a fan favorite.
Marvel’s Daredevil was the first of four that will soon led to the formation of Marvel’s The Defenders last summer with Cox’s Man without Fear joining forces with Krysten Ritter’s hard-drinking, short-fused private eye Jessica Jones, Mike Colter’s bulletproof and unbreakable Luke Cage, and Finn Jones’ glowing Iron Fist in saving New York City from the evil cult ninja organization known as the Hand.
The third and final season is an adaptation of the “Born Again” story: the resurrection of Matt Murdock and Daredevil, the rise and rebirth of Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) as the Kingpin with his iconic white suit, and the rise of federal agent Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter (Wilson Bethel) as the villain Bullseye. Season three finds Matt letting the Devil out: back in black, fighting the system against Fisk as a guardian angel, renewing the faith and belief that one man can make a difference. Daredevil may have saved the people of New York, but Matt Murdock was saved by his friends and partners Foggy (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll).
“From the moment of young Matt’s first act of heroism to the birth of Page, Murdock & Nelson, it has been a unbelievable journey”, Marvel said in their statement on Friday via Deadline. “We are incredibly proud of the amazing showrunners and writers starting with Drew Goddard and Steven DeKnight, Marco Ramirez and Doug Petrie and Erik Oleson, Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Vincent D’Onofrio and our casts who brought our characters to life with such excellence, and every one of the fantastic crews in NYC. We look forward to more adventures with the Man without Fear in the future.
All three seasons of Marvel’s Daredevil are available on Netflix.