Initially, Netflix introduced the world to Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, but the success of the show quickly afforded them the opportunity to start following several other street-level heroes working in and around Hell’s Kitchen. Unfortunately for Netflix, despite success with these projects broadly, Marvel eventually recalled their IP ahead of their efforts to start building live-action shows into their MCU.
Before Netflix had to close the door on its Marvel shows, however, they were able to release six different shows, including one that served as a crossover event for the wider world of their stories. And their legacy continues to grow as Marvel Television has since gone on to continue Cox’s story in Daredevil: Born Again, alongside some of his fellow vigilantes from the Netflix Marvel era.
Iron Fist
While all of the above highlights the incredible talents and efforts that went into creating these grounded, gritty stories that thrived among the fanbase on the biggest streaming platform in existence, there was one dark spot in the Netflix Marvel era that just never managed to resonate with audiences. That is, of course, Iron Fist.
The show follows Danny Rand, a young man whose story feels incredibly reminiscent of both Bruce Wayne of the DC Comics and the Arrowverse’s Oliver Queen. Except that Rand has less of an excuse to come across as a jerk, because his parents weren’t murdered in front of him, and he wasn’t left stranded on a remote island where he was hunted for years.
That said, Danny’s parents were killed in a plane crash, and he was taken in by monks who taught him incredible ancient fighting techniques, leading to him becoming a magical protector known as the Iron Fist.
The issue with this show is largely how much it moves away from everything else in the Netflix Marvel shows, and it fails to sell the audience on the magic and wonder that is so central to this story’s success. On top of that, the writing and performances were lackluster, and it ultimately fell far short of the competition.
The Defenders
The Defenders didn’t fare much better than Iron Fist in all honesty, but the crossover chaos sees it win out by a hair. This series serves as Marvel’s equivalent to The Avengers films in the larger MCU franchise, but that also highlights how high the bar was for a show like this. An eight-part crossover event that had so much potential, but unfortunately, failed to rise to meet it.
The Defenders sees the stories of all of the heroes introduced in the Netflix Marvel shows collide when the evil organization that Matt Murdock has been pursuing, the Hand, begins to make noise in New York. As a result, the heroes unite, with Daredevil leading the pack, and Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand’s Iron Fist all following closely.
While the dynamics weren’t terrible, and the series had some fun moments throughout its run, the story ultimately felt rushed and underdeveloped. It’s a shame, because this series had the potential to be one of the best things to come from Netflix, never mind just the Netflix Marvel shows, but ultimately it fumbled and failed to cash in on the popular heroes crossover event.
Luke Cage
Luke Cage had a lot of potential, and with some stellar casting and punchy storytelling, the first two seasons of the show appeared to be well-received by audiences, and clearly established Mike Colter’s Luke Cage as a hero worthy of appearing in this dark and gritty set of stories. However, when the show was unceremoniously canceled, hopes for the character to be explored further vanished.
Luke Cage was introduced to this shared universe in Jessica Jones, giving the audience plenty of time to get acquainted with this unbreakable hero ahead of him leading his own show. This paid off with both seasons of Luke Cage being able to shift the focus away from just looking at his powers and origins and onto the themes that the writers wanted to give voice to, such as blaxploitation and Black culture more broadly.
Unfortunately, due to creative differences, the show never made it past the second season, leaving Luke’s story unfulfilled, and the character’s impact being diluted by other projects with different priorities. It’s a shame, because Luke Cage could have been among the best shows from Netflix’s Marvel collaboration.
Regardless, Luke Cage explores the incredible powers and complex life choices that they raise for the titular character. With super strength and bulletproof skin, Luke has incredible potential to take on any rival and get the upper hand. The show’s action, story, and acting were all wonderful, and it would have been great to see how it continued.
The Punisher
Jon Bernthal is one of the standout actors to appear across the entire of Netflix’s Marvel offerings, and when he debuted in Daredevil as Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, it was immediately recognized as yet another all-time great casting. So, it makes sense that Bernthal was brought back to star in his own series, which was developed into two seasons of a show for Netflix before being canceled.
The Punisher was by far the darkest and most gruesome entry in this shared universe, and that was perfectly fitting for the character whose whole identity is doling out brutal vengeance against his rivals and acting with harsh and exacting responses to crime and the criminals that enacted it.
Castle’s history as a highly-skilled military man shaped him into a killing machine, and when his family is brutally murdered, Frank embraces his dark side, promising to take the lives of those who took the ones he loved. This show is easily the best adaptation of the Punisher story to date, and speaks to why Bernthal has been brought back to take on a larger role in the MCU.
Despite this, the show did seem to lose some momentum in the second season, and when it was canceled, like Luke Cage, it felt as though the story was left unfinished and unresolved.
Jessica Jones
Jessica Jones was the second Netflix Marvel series to be released on the streamer, and with Kristin Ritter tackling the role of the haunted, super-strong girl who tries her best to escape her past, this show was absolutely stunning. The premiere season sees Ritter go head-to-head with David Tennant as the Purple Man, aka Kilgrave, and it was a roaring success.
Like many of the other shows in this list, it did start to decline in later seasons, and it failed to keep up viewing figures, which led to the show being canceled after three seasons, but this is a story that felt more complete than the previous entries, and it managed to give Jessica Jones a character arc that felt genuine and positive.
Overall, the story in Jessica Jones was strong, the characters were more fleshed out, and the hero, played by Ritter, was a captivating lead that made every episode invigorating and addictive. Sure, it had its faults, but it stands out as one of the best entries in the entire saga.
Daredevil
But there can only be one ‘best’ show, and that is easily Daredevil. Daredevil kicked off the Netflix Marvel shows, and in several ways, it defined them. It introduced and crossed over with other heroes, and it had the most gripping story of any of these series.
Add to that the inspired casting of Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, and a supporting cast that includes gems like Deborah Ann Woll and Rosario Dawson, and this show stands out from the crowd. It also set the stage for Marvel superhero stories to lean more heavily into violence and action, with exceptional choreography that gave these battle sequences life and motion.
On top of all of that, the story in this series far exceeds everything that came out of the other shows, with an epic and prolonged rivalry between Daredevil and Kingpin, a slow reveal about Matt’s tragic past, and moral struggles that make sense in the context of Matt’s struggle with faith and violence.
Then, further enhancing the impressive storytelling, Daredevil sees Matt Murdock juggle his life as a vigilante by night and a lawyer by day in a way that perfectly captures the motivations and conflicting themes of this hero. All in all, Daredevil has to be crowned as the top series in the Netflix Marvel universe of stories.