Netflix Appears to Have Axed Marvel's 'The Defenders'

It looks like Netflix has silently brought an end to ‘The Defenders’ after their Facebook page was changed to NX, a division focused on releasing "everything super, sci-fi, the fantastic, and beyond."

September 18, 2018

Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Finn Jones and Mike Colter arrive for the Netflix premiere. — From left: Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Finn Jones and Mike Colter arrive for the Netflix premiere of Marvel's 'The Defenders' on July 31, 2017 in New York. / AFP PHOTO / Bryan R. Smith (Photo credit should read BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images)
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It looks like Netflix silently tried to send The Defenders out to pasture. On Monday, Netflix released a video announcing the arrival of NX, a subdivision on the streaming service dedicated to what we will affectionately call "geek-centric content."

The announcement coincided with The Defenders’ Facebook page slyly being transitioned into NX. The move may not have been noticed, except for the fact that the show’s page sported more than 500,000 likes.

The miniseries which brought together the characters from Netflix’s stand-alone Marvel series—Daredevil,Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage—never got quite the audience reaction that they hoped for. Despite some mostly positive reviews, the show earned the unfortunate honor of being the least-watched Marvel original series premiere on the streaming service in the U.S. in its first 30 days of viewership, according to the marketing-analytics firm Jumpshot. To get an idea how poor the numbers were, The Defenders received just 17 percent of the viewership that season two of Daredevil got in its first 30 days.

Even though The Defenders failed to grab a sizable audience, each Marvel character will continue with their respective shows. The second season of Iron Fist dropped last week while Daredevil season 3 will premiere sometime in the fall.