Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has reflected on the streamer's Marvel shows – and some behind the scenes struggles.
Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist all streamed on Netflix, along with the crossover show Defenders. Now, of course, Marvel TV's home is Disney Plus.
"I think they are. I mean, I don’t know because they don’t release any numbers," Sarandos told Variety when asked if he thought Disney Plus's Marvel TV shows are successful.
"On our shows, we were dealing with the old Marvel television regime, which operated independently at Disney," he continued. "And they were thrifty. And every time we wanted to make the shows bigger or better, we had to bang on them. Our incentives were not well aligned. We wanted to make great television; they wanted to make money. I thought we could make money with great television."
He added of what he learned: "You want to work with people whose incentives are aligned with yours. When people are producing for you, they’re trying to produce as cheaply as possible. My incentive is to make it as great as possible. That’s a lesson that I take forever. As producers, whatever [Marvel] didn’t spend, they kept. So every time we wanted to add something to the show to make it better, it was a fistfight."
I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.
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