Are there live-action filming restrictions that prevent the Netflix Marvel Universe characters from appearing in Disney+ shows?

Question

First, Iron Fist was canceled after its second season. Luke Cage was likewise canceled after its second season,

Now, Daredevil has been canceled shortly after releasing its third season, which got me thinking:

Will this be the last we'll see of these characters? Can Disney redistribute and continue their series in its own upcoming streaming service? (at least as portrayed by these actors)

Asked another way, are there restrictions to these characters' live-action filming rights as negotiated by Netflix that would prevent Disney from picking up where these stories left off?

Jessica Jones and Punisher may still have a season to air on Netflix but may soon find themselves in the same boat.

Despite no mentions in the MCU movies about any character in the Defenders group, there were scattered mentions of MCU events and characters in these shows. Does this hint at the possibility of "compatibility" between these universes? I only mention this as there are already shows slated for Disney+ based on MCU characters.

Answer 1

No.

Charlie Cox, who played Matt Murdock on Netflix Daredevil, reprised his role as Matt Murdock in the MCU film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), and as Matt Murdock and Daredevil in the MCU Disney+ TV series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022). In addition, Vincent D'Onofrio reprised his role as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin in the MCU Disney+ TV series, Hawkeye (2021).

Cox and D'Onofrio will again reprise their roles in the Phase 5 MCU Disney+ TV series Echo (2023) and Daredevil: Born Again (2024). Jon Bernthal will also join the cast of Daredevil: Born Again and reprise his role as Frank Castle / the Punisher, a character he first portrayed in Netflix Daredevil Season 2 before playing the lead in his own Netflix TV series, The Punisher. Cox will voice Daredevil in the animated TV series Spider-Man: Freshman Year (2024), which will also be released on Disney+.

Vincent D'Onofrio has said that he played the same character in both Daredevil and Hawkeye, and that "there are [as] many dots connected as we can possibly connect."

Many fans have long debated whether Marvel Television’s Defenders-centric shows are actually MCU canon and, given Fisk’s new status, some may assume this is a “variant” of the antagonist. However, when I spoke with Vincent D’Onofrio, he provided a clear answer as to whether this is the exact antagonist from the original series:

It’s the same character. Yeah, I mean, the way that we saw it on Hawkeye, or [what] I ended up believing, is that there are [as] many dots connected as we can possibly connect, and some are just impossible to connect. But I think… it's the same as a lot of the MCU stuff that's done, that [Marvel Studios head] Kevin [Feige] does, and all the incredible filmmakers, you know, they try to connect to the original stuff as much as they can. … But then there's dots that can't be connected. And I think we tried to do the same thing with connecting Daredevil to… or Hawkeye to Daredevil and Daredevil to Hawkeye. You know, it's like that.

So worry not, fans, this version of New York’s biggest crime boss is meant to be the same one you first met back in 2015.

^{Source: Hawkeye’s Vincent D’Onofrio Explains MCU Kingpin’s Daredevil Connections — Cinemablend}

In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant for the new series, D'Onofrio opened up about his Kingpin return in Hawkeye. When asked whether the Disney+ series exists separate from Netflix's Daredevil, the star confirmed that both versions of the Kingpin are the same and explained how Marvel connected the dots between them. See what D'Onofrio said below:

"I think from my point of view, like a lot of the Avengers stuff, a lot of the MCU stuff, they tried to connect as many dots to the original canon as they can, and some dots are just not possible to connect. And that's what we've done with connecting to Daredevil and vice versa. There's some dots [that] are connected. Like in the Hawkeye show, Fisk is obviously physically stronger and can take more physical abuse. But the key to his being an interesting character, in my mind, will always be the fact that he has this emotional life that grounds him, that makes everything work, as far as I'm concerned.

We can sell that character in so many facets. Story-wise we can sell it, if we keep him based in that emotional life. And I know that the writers, and the producers, and me, and everybody involved in the Hawkeye show, we were all on the same page about that. I have to say that they're very collaborative people and – not only to mention awesome people, very nice – but the producers, like I said, the writers and the directors were all just thrilled to work with so we kept along those lines. And I think that's what will continue to make the character interesting if there's anything next for me to do."

^{Source: Hawkeye & Daredevil's Kingpin Are The Same, Confirms Vincent D'Onofrio — Screen Rant}

Netflix Daredevil, along with the other Netflix Marvel series, was removed from Netflix in March 2022 and added to Disney+ after Disney regained the license for them. (Source)

Answer 2

Although Disney nor Netflix has yet to tell us what's really going on and until then, we may only be able to speculate, there is some evidence to at least support that Bob Iger is extremely interested in investing in Disney's upcoming streaming service, Disney+ and that many franchise spin-offs will be made for this platform. In addition, Iger mentions eventually "bringing older content over" to the new platform...

Bob Iger THR Interview September 2018:

You call it upheaval, I guess that's one way to describe it. I believe we have to look at this as opportunity versus threat. Meaning I've tried to manage this company … in a way that enables us to not only survive but to thrive in a world that doesn't look anything like the world that existed just a few years ago.

There are three ways to do that. The first is make great content. And this is very relevant to the Fox acquisition. The second is to be incredibly innovative about how you bring that content to market. By the way, there isn't a better example than Netflix. The third is to be truly global in nature.

It’s a direct relationship with customers: the ability to provide more customized, personalized experiences; new ways to monetize; a proximity to a customer that doesn’t have intermediaries. You're going to see growth in direct-to-consumer businesses. You're probably going to see less channel watching; we're already seeing that. You're probably going to see less bundling of channels and more selling of specific brands, programs, etc.

No. First of all, I don't know what Netflix is spending. You may know more than I do. If you really look across all of our businesses and you include ESPN and ABC and ABC News and what we're buying with Fox, we probably spend upwards of what they're spending. It's just that we're distributing differently. So the pivot for us is not necessarily substantially more spending, it's substantially different distribution. But while we're migrating to new distribution models, we have to spend enough [to populate] the new distribution until we can move content on the older ones over.

So far there are spin-offs in the works for various franchises:

• Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Rogue One Prequel Series, The Clone Wars S7
• Marvel MCU: Loki limited, Falcon & Winter Soldier Spin Off, Scarlet Witch limited
• Monsters INC: Spin Off/Sequel
• Remake or tie-in of The Mighty Ducks TV series
• High School Musical - something or another

Speculation: Pirates of the Caribbean Spin-Off with these early, possibly slightly inaccurate reports (i.e. Not replacing Sparrow, but possibly spinning off with re-imaged Redd theme park character TV series, rather than feature films): https://movieweb.com/pirates-of-caribbean-reboot-female-lead-redd-no-jack-sparrow/

IGN Also wrote this interesting article

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UPDATE VIA Deadline (About Daredevil):

A statement this morning from the home of The Avengers and Spider-man used similar language to what the streamer signed off with to indicate that Hell’s Kitchen’s blind protector isn’t done yet on the small or even big screen. “We look forward to more adventures with the Man without Fear in the future,” the Disney-owned comic giant said Friday.

That’s a lot like “While the series on Netflix has ended, the three existing seasons will remain on the service for years to come, while the Daredevil character will live on in future projects for Marvel,” which the streamer said Thursday when it announced Season 3 would be its last for Netflix.

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Second UPDATE - Netflix Marvel shows *may end up on Disney+

What's the right mix of original and licensed programming on Disney+?

Many of our core brands are going to be in that service. Some of this content will have an initial window, like a theatrically released film, some will be on television first, some will be original for the service. It will skew naturally from an hours perspective, because of how much we've invested over the years, toward product that's non-original, but we're making a lot of original content.

Would you consider reviving the Marvel shows that Netflix canceled?

They are very high-quality shows. We haven't yet discussed that, but I would say that's a possibility.

So it seems like they are moving some of this property to either feature films or their streaming service. But it still remains unclear if the character(s) will be recast...

Answer 3

I greatly appreciate Darth Locke's answer and will keep it as an accepted answer to this question.

However, for completion's sake, I do want to add an infographic recently released by the Geek Twins on this very topic:

Specifically of interest to this question is a footnote which reads.

Netflix Contract Rights Revert to Marvel in 2020-2021.

I'd have to follow up on their sources to see specifics but will otherwise point to another issue. Just because Marvel has certain rights doesn't mean they will exercise them. Case in point, now that the Fox merger has completed, there is no announced plan at this time to include any of the X-Men or Fantastic Four characters in the MCU as far as I'm aware so, still, take with a grain of salt.