Although everyone was expecting 'Iron Fist' to be cancelled - hell, everyone was surprised it even got a second season - the cancellation of 'Luke Cage' by Netflix has come as a shock.
The streaming service announced late last night / early this morning that the Harlem Hero is finished, with a short statement on the topic confirming the news. "Unfortunately, Marvel’s Luke Cage will not return for a third season,” Marvel and the streaming service said on Friday. "Everyone at Marvel Television and Netflix is grateful to the dedicated showrunner, writers, cast and crew who brought Harlem’s Hero to life for the past two seasons, and to all the fans who have supported the series."
Per Deadline's report, creative differences between Netflix and the writer's room led to the decision, with the third season expected to be cut down from 13 episodes to 10. Another factor in the equation was the high production cost of each episode, although no specific figures were given as to a cost per episode. What's interesting about this, however, is that both showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker and Luke Cage himself, Mike Colter, were under contract with Netflix and scripts and treatments were still being written for the third season.
With 'Iron Fist' and 'Luke Cage' now being closed down at Netflix, 'Daredevil', 'The Punisher' and 'Jessica Jones' are the remaining Marvel properties left on Netflix. However, with Disney's own streaming service beginning to crank up production with the likes of 'The Mandalorian', don't be in the least bit surprised if all of these end up shifting there.
