Former Marvel TV Head Says the Defenders Aren’t ‘Netflix Heroes’

With Daredevil: Born Again ramping up for its second season, in which Krysten Ritter is set to return as Jessica Jones, Marvel fans are turning their attention back to the first three seasons of Daredevil, as well as the series Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Defenders. Fans can find those shows on Disney+ today, but back when they premiered, they were only available on Netflix and so many still refer to those shows as “Netflix shows.”

According to producer Jeph Loeb, that’s a misnomer. A legendary comic book writer, best known for the influential Batman: The Long Halloween, Loeb served as the showrunner for Marvel Television, overseeing Daredevil and the other shows produced in those days before Disney+. For that reason, Loeb downplayed the role Netflix played in the series’ production.

“One thing that I’d love to clear up,” he recently told Newsarama; “while it’s an easy shorthand to call them the ‘Netflix’ heroes – the plain truth is Netflix was our network. They aired the shows that then Marvel Television created, produced, wrote, cast, shot, edited, scored, etc.–hours and hours of some of the most brilliant people who worked on those shows for Marvel TV.”

Those Netflix series began with Daredevil in 2015, well after the launch of the MCU with 2008’s Iron Man, when Marvel was still riding high on the success of The Avengers. As the head of Marvel Television, Loeb worked with the Disney-owned network ABC for Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (2013-2020) and Agent Carter (2015-2016), as well as the ill-fated miniseries Inhumans (2017). But those shows were clearer extensions of the MCU.

Conversely, the Defenders shows had a more tenuous relationship with the mainline universe. While there were passing references to Hulk destroying Harlem in The Incredible Hulk and the existence of Thor, those shows seemed to take place in their own interconnected part of the world. Putting the shows on Netflix helped the series’ feel distinct, as did their harder edge, with plenty of violence to earn a TV-MA rating.

Of course, all of that changed in 2021, when Matt Murdock appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Wilson Fisk showed up Hawkeye, bringing those characters into the mainline MCU. By the time the shows left Netflix and returned on Disney+, they seemed to be fully ensconced into the Disney/Marvel fold, leaving Netflix behind.

That suits Loeb just fine, as it draws attention to the people who actually did the work to make those shows happen. Loeb recalled, “It was such an incredible team who have since gone out there and made names for themselves on nearly every other network/streaming service as executives/writers/producers – the works! Those folks are the real heroes of those six series!”

Just make sure you don’t call them Netflix series.

Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and others are now streaming on Disney+.