Why Iron Fist was canceled by Netflix

Cast your minds back to 2016 and 2017. It was a time before every single broadcast network and company seemed to have its own streaming platform. Netflix was the biggest, and it had deals with many different production studios. One of those was Disney, which meant Marvel, and that led to the creation of shows like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron First.

These shows were good quality programming, giving lesser-known superheroes and vigilantes a chance to shine. Sure, some storylines were problematic, especially when it came to Iron Fist, but we still expected to see more.

Then, suddenly, the news came out. Iron Fist was canceled after two seasons. That was followed by the cancellations of other Marvel Netflix Originals. What was going on? Why would Netflix cancel a show that was performing well on the platform?

Low viewership was initially believed to be the problem for Iron Fist

When the initial cancellation news came out, some people weren’t surprised. Out of all the Marvel shows, Iron Fist arguably had the lowest likely viewership. Netflix never shared the numbers, but it was the one talked about the least. It was also the one with the most negative reviews online.

Screen Rant reports that while Marvel and Netflix made the announcement together, the initial blame seemed to like with Netflix. It was the streamer that seemed to make the final call. Coming just months after the second season was released on the streamer certainly suggested that the cost of production was too high.

However, Netflix didn’t produce the series. It licensed the content, and that meant a lower risk financially. So, what really happened?

The critical response may have been to blame

Rather than the financial risk, the critical risk may have played a factor in the cancellation. Despite the viewing figures being potentially good for the first season, Iron Fist only gained a 20% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The second season went up to 55%, but that was still low. Did Netflix fear that it would face a backlash?

This still doesn’t make a lot of sense. The two seasons had a 74% and 73% score respectively originally, although that’s since dropped to 71% and 62% respectively. It means that the audience was there for the series. Of course, the audience being interested doesn’t necessarily help the studios or the actors. The studios chase awards a lot of the time, and a poor critical response would mean a lack of awards.

The end of a partnership brought the end of Iron Fist

The most likely cause of the end of the series was likely the same reason Daredevil was canceled. It all came down to the end of a partnership. When Disney and Netflix originally set out in their partnership in 2012, it was supposed to last for years. The idea of it ending in 2018 back then wasn’t on anyone’s radar.

Then, Disney announced plans to bring its own streaming platform back in 2017. Suddenly, the streaming world threatened to change, and not necessarily for the better. Sure, more competition should be a good thing, but streaming was supposed to help people cut cable forever. Now, more competition means more subscriptions. Streaming is now more expensive than cable!

Yet, Disney didn’t care. Disney wanted to have its own platform, and the partnership between it and Netflix started to end. Maybe Netflix saw the writing on the wall. Rather than give Disney help in creating its own platform, it may have decided to cancel Iron Fist. Canceling now would make it much harder for Disney to pick the show back up for its own platform if that was the initial plan.

It seems like the most ridiculous reason to cancel Iron Fist, just like it was the most ridiculous reason to cancel Daredevil. However, it does seem like there were more reasons for Netflix to end Iron Fist than the other Marvel shows. After all, while there is talk of a Daredevil spin-off series, there has been no word on bringing back Danny Rand’s story in some way. Maybe its problematic storylines were too much.