Late last year, Disney/Marvel and Netflix struck a pact to produce four linked 13-part superhero series around the characters Daredevil (which had recently reverted to Marvel), Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage, AKA The Defenders. Today the New York Governor’s office announced that instead of trying to fake grimy corners of the Big Apple in Los Angeles or Canada, the shows will be shot in and around the city thanks to a tax deal.
The ambitious series, which features** Cabin In The Woods** man Drew Goddard writing and overseeing Daredevil and Twilight veteran Melissa Rosenberg tapped to guide the Jessica Jones series so far, plans to show the four heroes’ stories across their separate 13-episode runs before combining them for an eight-episode miniseries crossover, making it 60 episodes in total.
“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,” said Governor Cuomo in the statement. “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 superheroes home where they belong – along with hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in new business.”
With filming on the various series set to kick off this summer, the plan will apparently bring around a thousand jobs to the city including 400 full-time gigs. It’s the biggest film or TV project ever attempted in the city, which means previous record holders Marc Webb and the Amazing Spider-Man team will really have to go some to beat that when the third film kicks off production.