Netflix Streaming Rights For Marvel's 'Defenders' To End Soon

Marvel Cinematic Universe just might be welcoming back some old faces. Disney licensed some marvel characters to Netflix as far back as 2013 in a bid to expand the franchise. Now almost a decade later, they're ready to take back control of the movies.

Several of the shows were canceled not long after they were released, to the dismay of fans. Now Disney is regaining the rights to them, no one knows for sure if the shows will be revisited. The studio is yet to give any comment concerning the shows' futures.

Characters from movies like "Daredevil" appeared in some recent Marvel movies, indicating that there could be some work going on behind the scenes. Charlie Cox made a cameo appearance in the newest Marvel movie, "Spider-Man: No Way Home," while his villain Vincent D'Onofrio showed up in the "Hawkeye" series.

Marvel TV series available on Netflix will be taken down by the end of the month. These MCU series include "Daredevil," "Jessica Jones," "Iron Fist," "Luke Cage," "The Defenders," and "Punisher." The Netflix streaming rights to the shows have ended so they will reportedly revert to Disney.

Netflix subscribers started noticing the development when a note appeared at the start of the shows on the streaming app. The note read, "This show is available until March 1st." Not much else was revealed, but Entertainment Weekly reportedly confirmed the departure of the MCU shows.

These shows were produced before the era of Disney+, and the characters were licensed to Netflix in 2013. However, in 2018, Netflix canceled all of them. While Disney hasn't mentioned what they have in store for the titles or if any will be renewed, the characters have appeared in some recent Marvel movies.

The appearance of certain characters from "Daredevil" in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" could mean that Disney is planning on revisiting the title. The "Daredevil" main character, Charlie Cox, appeared in the third installment of the Spider-Man trilogy to reprise his role as Matt Murdock. Matt is a blind lawyer who argues in the courtroom during the day and at night prowls the street as the fearsome vigilante.

Besides Cox, another character from the Marvel movie made a cameo appearance, albeit in another movie. Vincent D'Onofrio, known for his role as the main villain, Kingpin, appeared in an episode of "Hawkeye." The actor appeared in the Disney+ series before Cox's cameo appearance.

The presence of these characters raised fans' hopes for a possible revisit of the show. This led to "Daredevil" being on Netflix's top 10 streaming chart for a while.

Charlie Cox, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, talked about how he was informed about the cameo appearance and his time on set. The actor said he first got wind of it in June 2020, after a call with Kevin Feige.

The MCU studios boss talked to Cox about the cameo and asked if he was interested. Cox revealed that the moment was "surreal" to him, and he wasted no time agreeing. "It was a pretty surreal moment, I'm not going to lie," he said.

"Bear in mind that it's been a few years. And I was pretty convinced it was over. Kevin said, 'We've got some ideas, but I wanted to make sure that you, in principle, are interested.' And I was like, 'I'm very interested.' And then I didn't hear from anyone for two months. And I got to the point where I wondered if I dreamt it," the actor revealed.

Although their last time together on set was in 2018, Cox and his co-star D'Onofrio still kept in touch. Before their show got canceled, D'Onofrio reportedly assured the 39-year-old that their time as the characters weren't over.

This proved to be true with their recent cameo appearances. Cox also mentioned that he hoped they would work together on screen again. He said, "Look, I don't have any idea what anyone's plans are at this stage, but I presume there's more for us to do."

The actor said their previous time working together was fun and commended D'Onofrio's prowess on stage. "I know a little bit — not a huge amount — but a little bit. I am imagining, I am hoping, that our worlds will collide again because the stuff we've done in the past was tremendous fun to do, and he's such an incredible actor," he said.