Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Wednesday that Walt Disney Co. will spend $200 million filming four Marvel Netflix series' in New York City.
Marvel Studios will be filming four live-action TV shows about street-level superheroes. These heroes include Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist, according to MTV. The four shows will end with a Defenders team-up event.
Sixty one-hour episodes are scheduled to be produced, which will lead to 400 full-time jobs and 3,000 part-time production jobs, Variety reported. Disney chief Bob Iger said filming The Defenders in New York City was important in making the show "authentic".
"To us, it's very, very important for us to be in New York," Iger said.
The first show will be based on Daredevil, who was blinded as a child by a radioactive substance that heightened all of his other senses and abilities. The show will then continue with Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and then Luke Cage. All of them are set in Hell's Kitchen, according to The New York Times. Filming is set to begin this summer, with the shows set to debut on Netflix in the Fall of 2015.
Cuomo said that after the past three years, New York State has given $400 million in tax credits to TV and movie productions, which has helped generate $6 billion in economic activity and 400,000 jobs, according to Variety.
"It's an entirely new business line for the state, if you will," Cuomo said.
The significance in the filming of the shows in New York City is that these four superheroes, as well as many other Marvel characters, began their heroic careers in New York, MTV reported. Unlike DC Comics, which sets their heroes in fictional cities, Marvel set their heroes in real cities, most of them in New York, to provide a real-world feeling to their readers.
Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos stated his excitement to see a live-action depiction of The Defenders, Variety reported.
"The Defenders are classic New York characters; smart, resourceful and tough enough to always stand up for what's right," Sarandos said. "We're delighted they're coming to life on their home turf thanks to Governor Cuomo and his team."
