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TV May be Everywhere, but Research is Nowhere – see the next issue of The Sternberg Report.

The Sternberg Report ©2019

March 2019 #57

Why Marvel’s Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and The Punisher are Worth Saving By Steve Sternberg

Netflix is ending its five-year partnership with Disney-owned Marvel, which includes canceling all five of its original scripted series based on the characters, Iron Fist,

Luke Cage, Daredevil, The Punisher, and Jessica Jones.

This coincides with Disney ramping up efforts for its own streaming service, Disney+ (set to launch later this year), and increasing its ownership stake in Hulu

to 60% (when its purchase of Fox becomes official).

Marvel’s theatrical movies focus on the more well-known world-saving superheroes, such as Thor,

The Hulk, Iron Man, and The Avengers, but its Netflix TV shows featured lesser-known “street-level” heroes, whose grittier, more personal, neighborhood-centered stories lend themselves to more series-long plotlines (as opposed to one- or two-part blockbuster action movies).

While Iron Fist missed the mark, and Luke Cage was not as good as it could have been, the other three are high-quality, exciting, yet distinctly different action dramas. Daredevil, which launched

Marvel series on Netflix in 2015, aired three 13-episode seasons, The Punisher aired two, and Jessica

Jones will have its third and final season air on the streamer sometime in 2019. It is unusual for a

show to be canceled before its new season airs, but Netflix knew it would eventually part ways with Jessica Jones anyway – its showrunner left for competitor, Warner Media, after the third season was completed, and some cast members reportedly have opportunities for new shows this pilot season.

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Netflix is moving toward owning more of its own content, and it did not have an ownership stake in any of its Marvel series – each season required paying a hefty license fee to Disney-owned

ABC Studios. Disney had already announced plans to move its Marvel theatrical movies to Disney+, although it had indicated that the Netflix original series could remain there. But since the last seasons of all three series apparently lost viewers from the previous season, given their high cost, Netflix

probably figured this was a good time to cut bait.

I’ve seen reports that these series might be considered too “adult” for Disney+ (which wants to keep the Disney family brand), and the more likely landing spot would be Hulu if any were revived. One major advantage streaming services have over traditional networks is that they aren’t

concerned with the concept of fall or mid-season schedules (the second season of Jessica Jones, for example, premiered more than two years after its first season). Announcing the revival of Daredevil,

Jessica Jones, and The Punisher could in itself draw a couple of million additional subscribers for Disney+, which already plans three spinoffs from the Marvel Cinematic Universe featuring Loki, Vision and Scarlet Witch, and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier – each portrayed by the actors from the

theatrical movies. Hulu (which already has Marvel’s Runaways), would also likely receive a nice boost from picking up these series. Of course, even if none of the series are renewed, the characters

could make guest appearances in existing Marvel shows.

When Daredevil debuted on Netflix it raised the bar for superhero storytelling on television. As the best known of the Netflix Marvel heroes, Charlie Cox gives a strong, nuanced performance as Matt Murdoch/Daredevil – blind

lawyer by day, vigilante crimefighter by night. While he has no actual superpowers, he has ninja-like fighting skills, and heightened senses to make up for his lack of sight. As with all Marvel vigilantes,

he is conflicted and haunted by events in his past, and struggles with the violence he is forced to inflict on the bad guys – at what point do you become what you are fighting?

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The fight choreography (check out the hallway fight sequence from season 1 or the prison gym fight in season 3) is well beyond anything I’ve seen TV.

Deborah Ann Woll is a revelation as Karen Page, Murdoch’s former legal assistant, now a crusading reporter (she also has a key role in The Punisher). Strong, independent, and fearless, she’s worthy

of being given her own show (which would actually be a good way to have occasional super hero guest spots).

Great heroes are often defined and elevated by great villains, and Vincent D’Onofrio is larger than life as Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin. In the comic books, he’s one of Daredevil’s and Spiderman’s

greatest foes. Living up to one of the most iconic bad guys in comicdom is no easy task, but he pulls it off brilliantly.

Marvel’s most violent anti-hero, Frank Castle, aka The

Punisher, is played to perfection by Jon Bernthal. He’s a former special forces soldier seeking vengeance on those

who murdered his family. His internal struggle is more straightforward than other Marvel vigilantes – he has no

qualms or remorse about the high body counts he leaves in his lurch but his dilemma is simply after you kill everyone who has wronged you, can you once again become a normal human being? The answer seems to be maybe, at least until he sees some innocent person in danger – then he’s

compelled to come to the rescue and mercilessly put down the bad guys.

The fight scenes are fantastic, and virtually every episode is exhilarating (if you like this sort of thing).

Jon Bernthal is set to join the cast of the upcoming Sopranos prequel on HBO. So, The Punisher is

the least likely of the Netflix Marvel heroes to be resurrected in a full series somewhere else.

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Jessica Jones has the distinction of being Marvel’s first female lead and title character in either television or movies. It stars Krysten Ritter, one of the most casually charismatic actors on television. She is a reluctant hero, haunted by her past, with extraordinary

strength (although notably, not invulnerability, so she can be hurt). While Season 2 finished shooting before the #MeToo and Times Up movements (It debuted last March), both seasons tapped into the

current American zeitgeist like nothing else on TV.

Season 1 was a surprisingly strong commentary on male/female relationships and the abuse of

privilege and power, focusing on topics such as mind control, addiction, rape, retaliation, revenge, and redemption – subject matter seldom dealt with on television, and not at all in the Marvel universe

at large. The mind-controlling Killgrave was one of the best TV villains ever.

In the first episode of season 2, a new male rival investigator who wants to take over her business

tells her “I don’t take no for an answer.” Jessica responds, “How rapey of you.” New terrain on television to be sure.

While strong women abound on network TV, from superhero to crime dramas to action series, virtually all of them have central relationships with men, report to men, or are otherwise dependent on men to

some degree. This has to do with the conservativeness of broadcast executives, writers thinking they need to be more traditional for a broadcast network (and its advertisers), and with more episodes per season than cable or streaming dramas, relationships lend themselves to more storylines. Maybe

there’s also a feeling that these dynamics appeal to a broader audience (broadcast networks need higher ratings for a show to survive). Then again, it could just be as simple as having many more male

than female writers and directors.

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Jessica Jones shatters that mold by presenting a strong, brooding, independent woman on her own, who plays by her own rules. She’s flawed, she swears, she drinks too much, – the type of female

character you rarely if ever see television. She’s a hero and a victim (who doesn’t need to be saved by a man). She turns the noir elements of the show upside down – she’s more hard-boiled detective than femme fatale. Usually it’s the male character who has indiscriminate and casual sex – not

here. And it’s not just Krysten Ritter’s title character – most of the strong, independent characters in Jessica Jones are women – including Rachael Taylor as her best friend Trish “Patsy” Walker, the

excellent Carrie-Anne Moss as a high-powered attorney who has helped Jessica out of several jams, and the wonderful Janet McTeer, as her mom. Notably, roles often played by women, the assistant and the girlfriend (in this case boyfriend), are reserved for men.

All 13 episodes of season 2 were directed by women. Another first, and another factor that makes

this an important and historically significant series. While the odds may not favor renewal, Marvel will be hard-pressed to develop another television series with the grittiness and social significance of Jessica Jones.