Marvel and Netflix join forces for ‘Daredevil’, ‘Jessica Jones’, ‘Luke Cage’, ‘Iron Fist’ and ‘The Defenders’

Marvel and Netflix have just announced a massive deal that will see four live-action comic adaptations and a mini-series come to the Internet TV giant from 2015. The rumour originally broke last month when the media began to report that Marvel Studios had committed to an unusual 60 episode deal across multiple platforms.

Marvel has now confirmed via a press release (below) that Daredevil will launch in 2015, followed by a series of street-level shows that include Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage, culminating in The Defenders mini-series.

A Daredevil reboot, following the much-maligned 2003 film starring Ben Affleck, has been in talks for a number of years. Similarly, a Jessica Jones series, based on Brian Michael Bendis’s superb Alias comic book from the Marvel MAX line, has been in development since 2010 under the working title of AKA Jessica Jones.

With a formula that seems to follow the Marvel Cinematic Universe approach of solo heroes and team-ups, this is potentially exciting news for fans disappointed by the so-far bland Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Burbank, Calif. – Nov 7, 2013—The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) today announced an unprecedented deal for Marvel TV to bring multiple original series of live-action adventures of four of Marvel’s most popular characters exclusively to the world’s leading Internet TV Network beginning in 2015. This pioneering agreement calls for Marvel to develop four serialized programs leading to a mini-series programming event.

Led by a series focused on “Daredevil,” followed by “Jessica Jones,” “Iron Fist” and “Luke Cage,” the epic will unfold over multiple years of original programming, taking Netflix members deep into the gritty world of heroes and villains of Hell’s Kitchen, New York.  Netflix has committed to a minimum of four, thirteen episodes series and a culminating Marvel’s “The Defenders” mini-series event that reimagines a dream team of self-sacrificing, heroic characters.

Produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Television Studios, this groundbreaking deal is Marvel’s most ambitious foray yet into live-action TV storytelling.

“This deal is unparalleled in its scope and size, and reinforces our commitment to deliver Marvel’s brand, content and characters across all platforms of storytelling. Netflix offers an incredible platform for the kind of rich storytelling that is Marvel’s specialty,” said Alan Fine, President of Marvel Entertainment. “This serialized epic expands the narrative possibilities of on-demand television and gives fans the flexibility to immerse themselves how and when they want in what’s sure to be a thrilling and engaging adventure.”

“Marvel’s movies, such as ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Marvel’s The Avengers,’ are huge favorites on our service around the world. Like Disney, Marvel is a known and loved brand that travels,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. “With ‘House of Cards’ and our other original series, we have pioneered new approaches to storytelling and to global distribution and we’re thrilled to be working with Disney and Marvel to take our brand of television to new levels with a creative project of this magnitude.”

This new original TV deal follows last year’s landmark movie distribution deal through which, beginning with 2016 theatrically released feature films, Netflix will be the exclusive U.S. subscription television service for first-run, live-action and animated movies from the Walt Disney Studios, including titles from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Disneynature and Lucasfilm.  Netflix members can currently enjoy a wide range of Disney, ABC TV and Disney Channel films and shows across the 41 countries where Netflix operates.