Marvel And Netflix Announce Multiple Live-Action Program Deal

In the past year, Netflix has found significant success in expanding its business model to include streaming original series. The popularity and critical praise of shows like Orange Is The New Black, House Of Cards, and the fourth season of Arrested Development have led many to wonder what the next step is for the media streaming giant, and just how significant it would be. It turns out, that next step involves the House Of Ideas, as today Marvel and its parent company Disney have announced an unprecedented partnership with Netflix in which Marvel TV will produce four serialized original programs, starring four of its characters, which will lead into a miniseries, and all of it will stream exclusively on Netflix.

The launch series will star Daredevil, and will be followed by three more series spotlighting three other Marvel characters: Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. The series' will unfold over multiple years, culminating in a Defenders miniseries starring all four as they team up in Daredevil's Hell's Kitchen home. The programs will be produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Television Studios.

"The 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" said Marvel Entertainment President Alan Fine, in a statement released on Marvel's website this morning. "Netflix offers an incredible platform for the kind of rich storytelling that is Marvel’s specialty. 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."

Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos expressed similar enthusiasm about the partnership: "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. 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."

The comics industry as a whole has made tremendous growth into other media within the past decade, but Marvel particularly has been increasingly aggressive in promoting its characters, and brand, across all media. All of this comes on the heels of the immensely successful development of the Marvel cinematic universe, as well as the initial ratings success of ABC's Agents Of SHIELD television program. So while today's news is inarguably significant in its scope, it almost certainly should not come as a surprise. As far as expanding Marvel's reach into television, perhaps this was just the next logical step.