Yesterday, Hulu announced that they were expanding their relationship with Marvel, unveiling five new animated series based on Marvel comics characters. This is on top of the already existing
Runaways, which is likely to get renewed for a Season 3. According to Craig Erwich, Hulu senior vice president of original content, this is only the beginning of their expansion of Marvel related properties.
We’ve had a relationship with Marvel since ‘Runaways,’ we’re getting into business on these animated shows. I’m sure it will lead to — you know, business gets you business — we have a good creative relationship with them. That’s where opportunities tend to arise.
Speaking with
The Wrap, Erwich was asked about the possibility of the streamer reviving any of Marvel's properties recently canceled by Netflix:
Daredevil,
Luke Cage and
Iron Fist. Erwich responded by saying timing was key with adding more Marvel series, something Hulu is very interested in doing, and notably did not rule out a potential revival of these canceled series.
Marvel has a ton of titles we’d be interested in. It kind of just depends on when they’re ready, [and] who, most importantly, is going to be behind these things.
With the remark "
when they're ready," Erwich seems to be referring to the contract Marvel has with Netflix, which prohibits characters such as Daredevil, Kingpin and Bullseye from appearing elsewhere for two years after a series' cancellation.
Erwich's comments also come at a time when the Disney/Fox deal is close to being finalized, which will see Disney holding a 60 pecent majority stake in Hulu. Additionally, Iger has recently touted the streamer as a valuable platform for some of their content, especially R-rated content.
Hulu is a direct competitor with Netflix and could potentially make a move that would echo Amazon's actions last year, when Amazon revived
The Expanse to help boost
Prime. A critically acclaimed series such as
Daredevil would certainly help increase the strength and profitability of Hulu's streaming service.