Marvel and Netflix made the surprising announcement Friday, stating, “Unfortunately, Marvel’s Luke Cage will not return for a third season. 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.”
Scripts and notes were already well in order for season 3 before the abrupt cancellation. Detailed drafts for the first half of the third season were delivered to Marvel and Netflix just this week.
According to Deadline, some show executives had issues with the more developed scripts, although they strongly incorporated ideas from both Netflix and Marvel. In addition, the writers’ room was put on hold for a week in September, as the streaming site and the Disney-owned company figured out ways of changing the deal for the original planned 13 episode Luke Cage to a slimmed down 10 episode season.
The cancellation of the show was the only viable exit amongst the fueling turmoil behind the scenes between Netflix and Marvel execs.
First, the end of #IronFist on October 12 and now Luke Cage, the number of Marvel series on Netflix has been cut by 40% according to reports. All that’s left is #JessicaJones and #ThePunisher.
