Why did "Luke Cage" get cancelled? According to reports leaning on insider sources, it's not because of ratings.
Marvel and Netflix did not disclose a reason for cancelling "Luke Cage," one of their five original episodic co-productions, instead thanking its showrunner, writers, cast, crew and fans.
Yet rather than low ratings causing the cancellation, as was the case with the poorly received "Iron Fist" the previous week, mounting behind-the-scenes disagreements are said to be the cause.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "the cancellation was due to creative differences and the inability to agree to terms for a third season of the show," even though principal cast members had already been signed up.
That's something elaborated upon by Deadline, which cited two factors behind "rising tensions over the past month": creative differences on content, and re-negotiations over the season's agreed length.
"Some execs had issues with the more developed scripts, even though the scripts strongly incorporated suggestions from both Netflix and Marvel," it was suggested while, in parallel, Netflix and Marvel were also unable to agree on terms to reduce a 13 episode season down to 10 episodes.
The news came in concert with the launch of "Daredevil" season 3, and a third "Jessica Jones" likewise remains on the cards.
Ensemble series "The Defenders" was a one-off and led to the introduction of "The Punisher," which is headed towards a second season.
Marvel's parent company, Disney, is to launch its own online streaming service at some point in 2019.
