Marvel's The Defenders Review

A Netflix Original Series by Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez

Starring: Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Daredevil, Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, and Finn Jones as Danny Rand / Iron Fist

Release date: August 18th 2017

“Marvel’s The Defenders” is an upcoming Netflix web television series that will follow a quartet of street level superhero New Yorkers: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. If you’ve been keeping up with the Netflix series for each of the starring heroes, then you’ll really enjoy this composition of your favourite heroes into The Defenders. Each of our Defenders are justifiably misfits; Daredevil is a blind attorney by day and a masked vigilante by night, Jessica Jones is an anti hero who is very reluctant to use her powers and tries but often fails to make good choices, Luke Cage is a man who carries the injustice and conflict of his past and has super strength which he acquired from being experimented on while still in prison, and last but not least we have our misfit Iron Fist who was orphaned after his parents died in a mysterious plane crash and rescued and trained by warrior monks. If you’re an old-school Defenders geek and have followed the comic since it’s experimental release in the 70’s, with it’s many changes in writers, starring heroes and plots, then you should adjust your expectations but I promise you that you’ll enjoy the new release of Marvel’s The Defenders. To my old-school Defenders fans, the 2017 Netflix series will star new heroes and will NOT be continuations of The New Defenders, The Return of the Defenders, Secret Defenders, Reunion and The Order, the 2005 miniseries, The Last Defenders, The Offenders, Fear Itself: The Deep, 2011 series, or lastly The Fearless Defenders, and will be independent from its previous team of “miniavengers” whose solo series were not independently as successful. On the contrary, the newly developed Defenders heroes were all successful as independent Netflix series and each of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist Netflix series were all well-received by Marvel fans of all generations.

Although just about everything has changed from the original Defenders, the theme of earth existing in the realm of the mystic lives on. The trailer for the new series starts out with our Defenders in an elevator headed down this giant shaft; we see daredevil in his old-school alternative cloth mask, and we also have Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Danny Rand in regular clothing. If you’ve followed the Luke Cage Netflix series then you’ll know at the end of the season Luke was arrested for escaping prison as Carl Lucas, which implies that Jessica Jones and Matt Murdock have to figure out how to get him out of jail before this scene actually takes place in the season. The defenders will be facing a common enemy; The Hand. The Hand is an organization of villainous mystical ninjas, organized criminals, mercenaries, and assassins. Some members of the Hand practice powerful occult magic that can bring a murdered person back to life as a servant of the Hand. At the ending of season 2 of Daredevil, Elektra’s (aka Black Sky) body winds up in possession of the hand, which foreshadows her resurrection as an enemy. Along with Elektra we will be seeing more supporting characters from the other Marvel Netflix series appearing in The Defenders. While marvel has been keeping details of Sigourney Weaver’s character under tight wraps, some details such as her character's name (Alexandra) were posted in a first look article by Entertainment Weekly. Stars of the Iron Fist series have said that about six months have passed between the end of the first season of Iron Fist and the beginning of The Defenders. If you’re a Marvel fan than you’ll be familiar with the trend of Marvel Netflix series and Marvel Movies tending to move and continue in real-time; so when a movie or series comes out a year or so after another movie, it's also been about one year or so in the movie universe. Friday August 18th 2017 will be the release date of all eight episodes of The Defenders miniseries. Although The Defenders will only have eight episodes, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist will all be releasing their own new seasons after The Defenders, and their release dates are yet to be announced. Marvel’s The Defenders has so much promise and so much potential to be badass like never seen before! Stay tuned and stay nerdy!