Farewell to Jessica Jones and The Punisher. Image : Netflix

Frank Castle might still be stuck in the war zone of his mind, but Netflix’s The Punisher has come to an end after two seasons. His Marvel compatriot, Jessica Jones, will also see her story end—but it’ll be after the third season of Jessica Jones airs. This news comes courtesy of Deadline today.




With Netflix abruptly ending its other series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, like Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Daredevil, it was only a matter of time before Lady Death came a-knocking for The Punisher, despite the show’s surprisingly strong second season. And though we’ve yet to see its still-to-be-aired third season, amid all these farewells, Jessica Jones’ end is hardly a surprise.

Punisher star Jon Bernthal shared this post on social media, indirectly (but also quite obviously) addressing the show’s cancellation:


In a blog post on Marvel’s official website, Marvel Head of Television Jeph Loeb offered words of praise for the Defenders:



It had never been done before. Four separate television series, each with different super-talented showrunners, writers, directors, cast and crew, coming out months apart and then... ...they would meet in a single event series all set in the heart of New York City. We called them The Defenders. They said it couldn’t be done. But Marvel assembled amazing teams to write, produce, direct, edit, and score 13 seasons and 148 one-hour episodes. Take a moment and go online and look at the dazzling list of actors, writers, directors, and musicians who graced us with the very best of their craft. We loved each and every minute of it. And we did it all for you — the fans — who cheered for us around the world and made all the hard work worth it. So, Thank You! On behalf of everyone at Marvel Television, we couldn’t be more proud or more grateful to our audience. Our Network partner may have decided they no longer want to continue telling the tales of these great characters... but you know Marvel better than that. As Matthew Murdock’s Dad once said, “The measure of a man is not how he gets knocked to the mat, it’s how he gets back up.” To be continued...! - Jeph Loeb and all of us at Marvel Television

In a statement to Deadline, Netflix shared the sentiment: “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.”

Whatever “to be continued” might mean (if anything) for these characters and their respective shows, of course, remains to be seen. We’ll certainly be keeping you posted on any further developments.

Update: Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter has also weighed in with her own Instagram post:


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