Marvel’s Netflix Shows Will Shoot In New York City

DC Comics were all set in made up cities with names like Gotham and Metropolis and Opal City. Marvel Comics were all set in New York City, which also happened to be the city in which I was set. Growing up reading Marvel Comics and seeing the superheroes fly and swing around the streets I knew (or approximations thereof) was a big part of the magic of these characters. They were fantastic visitors to my real world. 

The fact that Marvel Studios understands just how vital New York City is to their street-level heroes is part of why I honestly love this company. They've entered a production deal with the city and state of New York to shoot all 60 episodes of their five Netflix series - Iron Fist, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and the crossover series The Defenders - in the city itself. They're getting a big tax break for bringing New York heroes home. I'm so happy!

The big question, of course, is what sort of New York City will this be. Daredevil patrols a section of midtown Manhattan known as Hell's Kitchen... or at least it was known as that. The gentrifiers who have moved in and cleaned the hood up now call it Clinton. Will the show try to put Daredevil into the million dollar condos of modern midtown or will it be set in a slightly fantastical world that more resembles the great, gritty New York of the 70s and 80s?

With this announcement I imagine we're about to hear details on the shows themselves, including casting news. There are a ton of major roles to be cast, ones that could have impacts far beyond the Netflix series. Any of these characters could easily pop up in Marvel movies, and I hope they eventually do. 

I thought for sure these shows would shoot in Toronto or Vancouver or something, as so many TV series supposedly set in New York City do. Shooting in New York isn't easy and isn't cheap, and the fact that Marvel has committed to making it happen gives me the highest hopes for all the shows. 

The other big news to come from this announcement: all the shows will not drop at once. Daredevil will be first, and will stream in 2015. The deal is to shoot over the course of two years, so I expect that means we see The Defenders sometime in 2016 or 2017.