New York Is MARVEL’s Home Base For Upcoming Netflix Series

Marvel is bringing their street heroes to back America’s most superhero friendly city: New York. It was announced today that the upcoming Netflix series featuring the “flawed heroes of Hell’s Kitchen” will principally film in New York State. The shows, consisting of Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones, will begin filming in summer 2014 and will create up to 400 full time jobs. The deal was announced in Times Square by Disney CEO Bob Iger and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the latter of whom expressed his excitement at bringing the Marvel productions to New York.

New York is where the entertainment industry started, and this unprecedented commitment from Disney and Marvel is further evidence that we’re bringing it back bigger and better than ever before. And when the entertainment industry thrives, it fuels dozens of other industries and businesses. The competition for these projects is fierce and Disney could have chosen to film these shows anywhere, but they knew that shooting in New York means getting to work with the best in world. These shows bring New York’s super heroes home where they belong–along with hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in new business.

Beginning with Daredevil, the shows will begin filming in summer 2014. Totaling 60 episodes, each series will be 13 episodes each and “will unfold over multiple years of original programming, taking viewers deep into the gritty world of heroes and villains of Hell’s Kitchen, New York.” These series will culminate with the four heroes teaming up in a Defenders mini-series. Quite fitting considering The Defenders are typically comprised of outsider heroes. The filming deal follows last year’s movie distribution deal which, starting in 2016, Netflix will be the exclusive U.S. television subscription service to watch live-action and animated Disney movies, including ones from Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm.

It’s great that these Netflix shows will be based in New York City. With the exception of The Incredible Hulk and The Avengers, none of the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe take place in the Big Apple. That’s fine since these stories take place globally, but it’s still important to recognize Marvel’s roots. Not only is their publishing branch based there, but the majority of their superheroes operate there in the comics, which also means it’s a hotspot for villain attacks. I’m sure that wreaks hell on the lives of its normal citizens. Still, these heroes will be “street-based,” so I doubt they’ll be fighting invasions from the Chitauri or Thanos. Whoops, I just jinxed it, didn’t I?

The announcement states that there will be four 13 episode seasons and a mini-series. I’m curious whether Marvel will have phases for these shows like they do with their movies. Unless it’s their plan to tell an open-and-closed story with these 60 episodes, I have a suspicion that Marvel may order more seasons of these shows depending on how successful they are. That, or give other lesser-known Marvel characters their own Netflix break. Not every hero can support their own film, but if it’s done right, many of them can make one hell of a show!

For the full press release, click the link below.

SOURCE: Marvel