The successful launch of The Umbrella Academy proves that Netflix doesn't need its Marvel TV shows anymore, explaining why Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, The Defenders and The Punisher were all cancelled.
The Umbrella Academy season 1 premiered on Netflix Friday, Feb. 15, less than a full month after the streamer rolled out The Punisher season 2. The former marks the beginning of what can be a successful property for Netflix, while the latter is the second to last season to hit the streaming service as part of its original deal with Marvel TV. It may initially seem like a coincidence that The Punisher and Jessica Jones were cancelled shortly after The Umbrella Academy premiered, but it's likely there's some connection between the two events. After all, The Umbrella Academy is Netflix's first original, live-action adaptation of comic book superheroes not based on a Marvel property. And, by all accounts, it seems to have had a successful launch.
Related: Why The Punisher Was Canceled By Netflix
The Umbrella Academy both proves that Netflix doesn't need its Marvel TV properties and effectively ushers in a post-Marvel era of superhero programming for the streaming service. Now, we break down what's going on with the Marvel Netflix TV shows and what The Umbrella Academy's success shows us about the future of Netflix Originals, especially as it pertains to comic book and superhero adaptations.
- This Page: Netflix Cancels Marvel Shows In Favor Of Other Superhero Programming
- Page 2: Umbrella Academy Isn't Marvel - And That's A Good Thing
Why Netflix Has Cancelled All Of Its Marvel TV Shows
When Netflix and Marvel TV struck a deal in 2013 for a total of five separate shows - four solo, one crossover event - the former was still trying to build up its originals library and brand, while the latter's Marvel Cinematic Universe was proving to be an immense success. Now a little more than five years later, both the MCU and Netflix are in very different places. The Defenders shows have gotten further and further removed from the larger MCU and, perhaps because of that, Netflix's Marvel series' viewership has reportedly declined. (Netflix doesn't release viewership data, but third-party data indicates as much.)
Related: The Defenders Is What Killed Netflix's Marvel Shows
As a result, Netflix cancelled Iron Fist following its second season, then Luke Cage was cancelled, with news of Daredevil being cancelled arriving not too long after its third season premiered. These cancellations were capped off with the recent news of Netflix pulling the plug on The Punisher and Jessica Jones. As for The Defenders team-up, the show was never guaranteed a second season and Netflix chose not to move forward with season 2. As it currently stands, Netflix has cancelled all its Marvel TV properties. While The Punisher and The Defenders characters may be able to live on somewhere else, like Hulu, that remains to be seen. All we currently know is that Netflix is done making Marvel TV shows, but they aren't getting out of the superhero programming game entirely.
Netflix Has (A Lot Of) Other Superhero Shows Coming
The Umbrella Academy television series is just one of Netflix's many upcoming superhero properties. Netflix is also developing multiple Millarworld projects based on comics from Mark Millar's publishing imprint. Two Millarworld TV shows and three movies are in development at the time of this writing, thanks to Netflix acquiring Millarworld in 2017. The three films are adapting Empress, Huck and Sharkey the Bounty Hunter, while the TV shows will bring Jupiter's Legacy and American Jesus to life in live-action. If Netflix renews The Umbrella Academy for season 2 and beyond, Netflix is poised to have plenty of original superhero content without relying on Marvel TV.
And that's just Netflix's domestic originals. The company also has deals in place that add other superhero TV shows to its domestic and international libraries, with the added benefit of labelling some of them as Netflix originals in certain international markets. Netflix and The CW have a deal where the latter's shows - which include DC TV hits like The Flash and Arrow - arrive on the streamer just eight days after wrapping up their seasons. Outside of the United States, Netflix debuts new episodes of certain CW shows, like Riverdale and Black Lightning, week to week. Further, Netflix struck a deal with DC Universe to release Titans internationally, whereas it's only available on DC's own streaming service in the U.S.
All that's to say, Netflix has plenty of superhero content currently available in its streaming libraries all around the world and they have plenty more to come - even without new seasons of its Marvel TV shows. Plus, based on The Umbrella Academy, it's clear Netflix can create quality, compelling superhero dramas on its own.
Page 2 of 2: Umbrella Academy Isn't Marvel - And That's A Good Thing
The Umbrella Academy Wasn't Marvel - But Is Still A Big Hit
As previously stated, Netflix doesn't often release official viewership data, and when the company does, it's not measured in the same way as other television series. As a result, it's tough to tell how many people actually watched The Umbrella Academy over its first weekend. If The Umbrella Academy is renewed for season 2, that's a good indication of the show's success within the Netflix model, but since the company doesn't make those decisions right away, we must refer to reviews and general social media buzz. In the case of The Umbrella Academy, reviews were on the positive side. It didn't draw as much critical acclaim as those early seasons of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, but still earned generally favorable reviews with 71 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 61 on Metacritic. Further, it was arguably the most buzzed about new TV release of its debut weekend on social media.
The Umbrella Academy was a typical Netflix hit insofar as the TV show wasn't heavily marketed (though it was marketed more than some other releases from the streaming company) but once it debuted, word-of-mouth caused it to become one of the more talked about shows on the platform this past weekend. That's par for the course for Netflix nowadays, as they typically take lesser known properties or original stories and bring them to life in a way that appeals to its vast audience. More often than not anymore, Netflix doesn't trade on name brand franchises or big stars to sell their TV shows. Instead, like with The Umbrella Academy, they take a niche property and adapt it to a compelling TV show.
Related: How The Umbrella Academy is Different To (& Better Than) The Comics
But while some Netflix Originals content isn't always quite up to par with the quality fans expect from the streaming service, The Umbrella Academy is solidly good. It takes a lesser-known comic book and expands upon it so that it can appeal to both fans and viewers who've never heard of the Umbrella Academy comics. Netflix has built a strong enough brand and platform that they can produce good content, put it in front of their users with little to no marketing and still have a hit.
The Umbrella Academy Proves Marvel Wasn't Really The Draw
When Netflix and Marvel TV struck their original deal, Netflix was very much looking for high profile TV shows to make a name for itself in quality content. House of Cards and Orange is the New Black were their first hits, which arguably traded on the star power of Kevin Spacey and Weeds creator Jenji Kohan, respectively, but still laid the groundwork for Netflix's current strategy of creating targeted content for its viewers using original or lesser known stories. Still, the Marvel streaming shows were first greenlit at a time when Netflix was creating event-style content and releasing it less regularly. Now, Netflix's strategy is more about flooding their service with originals every week of the year. If any of their original movies or TV shows become an event, it's now the viewers creating that mentality rather than Netflix engineering it. Though, of course, Netflix does still have an idea of which originals are more likely to foster that event-like social media buzz, such as Bird Box or The Umbrella Academy.
All that's to say, while Netflix may have made the deal with Marvel to get some high-profile original content, even from the beginning the streaming service was building up their own brand so that it could one day be more of a draw on its own than even Marvel. Now, as the Marvel shows declined in viewership while Netflix had hits with largely unknown or completely original properties, it seems the streaming service has effectively achieved its goal of earning its users' trust. Users don't need a name brand or a big star to watch a Netflix original anymore, and The Umbrella Academy is just the latest in a long list of hits that prove as much.
More specifically, if Netflix can take a comic book superhero property as niche as The Umbrella Academy and turn it into as much of a hit as we saw in the show's first weekend, it proves the streaming service doesn't need the brand name of Marvel to sell superhero content. As such, Netflix has outgrown its deal with Marvel and it makes sense the streamer has officially cancelled all their Marvel shows. But while that particular relationship has ended, Marvel is moving forward with streaming shows on Hulu and Disney+ and Netflix will continue to expand its superhero lineup with its Millarworld projects and - hopefully - more of The Umbrella Academy.