Marvel’s "The Defenders" is an 8-part series on Netflix which finally brings together four of their superhero shows that have aired in the past couple years: "Daredevil," "Jessica Jones," "Luke Cage," and "Iron Fist." These shows have repeatedly referenced each other and have shared background characters, assuring audiences they all exist in the same world and with "The Defenders" we finally get to see these characters interact with one another. Before I get into why "The Defenders" is great (oops, spoiled my review already,) I wanted to get into why this was such an anticipated series to me by describing what makes the four previous Netflix shows memorable.
The first product of Netflix and Marvel’s merger was "Daredevil" an amazing series following Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who is more than meets the eye. He can’t see, but due to his blindness his other senses are heightened. He uses these powers to help save his home, Hell’s Kitchen in NYC. "Daredevil" features the brilliant Vincent D’Onofrio as the villain of the series, Wilson Fisk (or to comic readers...Kingpin.) Each actor in this show really brings their A-game and presents a more street-level look to the Marvel Universe. Every single punch matters and people get hurt, rather than the flashy fun style of "The Avengers." I like to think of these Netflix series as the R-rated group. To bank in on this R-rated tone, season 2 of "Daredevil" introduces a fan-favorite character The Punisher who’s soon to get his own series later this year.
"Jessica Jones," "Luke Cage" and "Iron Fist" aren’t as great as the two seasons of "Daredevil" but they definitely work establishing characters and the overall villains of the Marvel Netflix shows. "Jessica Jones," a woman with incredible strength and detective skills deals with psychological trauma and features the best villain Marvel has ever put out, David Tennant’s Kilgrave. The power Kilgrave possesses is unlike any other, all he has to do is tell you to do something and you have no choice but to comply... no matter how sinister his order. "Luke Cage," a bulletproof resident of Harlem is also matched perfectly in his own series by an amazing villain played by Mahershala Ali. His character, Cottonmouth saves the show despite being written off almost halfway through. Which leads us to "Iron Fist." Not a lot of people like this show, I found it very enjoyable despite the weak acting by Finn Jones. Each one of these shows can receive a full review, but I'm speeding it up a bit to get to "The Defenders."
Each of these series has faults and most of it comes from the fact that they’re all 13 episodes long, one hour each. These series eventually start to run out of story at around the 9-episode arc and the rest becomes a bunch of filler, padding out the run time. This is especially true of "Luke Cage "and "Jessica Jones," their series could’ve both been saved with fewer episodes and "The Defenders" definitely acknowledged this criticism. As much as I love watching these shows, I was relieved to find out that "The Defenders" would only be 8 episodes long.
If I could say one good things about the 13-episode series it would be that it allows you more time to connect with these characters. With The Avengers, you only get a few 2 hour Iron Man movies, 2 hour Thor movies, 2 hour Captain America movies and so on. It can be argued that the characters of Marvel’s Netflix shows have way more character growth and depth to them considering they have much more screen time, given the fact that they’re presented through this medium. I think this works in favor of "The Defenders."
An interesting aspect about all these shows is that they have one supporting character in common, Claire Temple played by Rosario Dawson. She comes into contact with each Defender at various points in their own respective series and becomes the glue that brings them together during this series. It was interesting to see how her character played out in this since it was obvious she would be the one to pick up the phone and call all the superhero friends she knows together.
Joining the 4 main cast members (Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, and Finn Jones) are the rest of the supporting cast of their respective shows along with some new faces. Sigourney Weaver, one of my favorite actresses, makes her Netflix debut by playing the new villain Alexandra. Her character is incredibly interesting and well performed. It’s kept ambiguous throughout the show just how old this character is, considering she speaks about classical composers like they were old friends and even refers to the country of Istanbul, rather than its new name Constantinople (I hope I got that “They Might Be Giants” song stuck in your head just now.) Her character is kept a mystery to the end and Sigourney Weaver plays the leadership role of the villain's organization with such intimidation.
The story can leave people a little bit sour, especially if they didn’t enjoy "Iron Fist." After watching all 8 episodes, I realized that this series is basically a mixture of a third season of "Daredevil" and a second season of "Iron Fist, "with the characters of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones just thrown in. The overarching story deals with the backstory explained in both "Daredevil "and "Iron Fist" which is more than alright with me but can leave some other viewers disappointed at the prominence of the character of Iron Fist in the plot. The Hand, the villains of this season are pretty intimidating considering they’ve been lurking in the background of the other Netflix shows, primarily "Daredevil" and "Iron Fist." Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver) acts as the leader of this shadow organization and plays it with a lot of intrigue. The Hand is to the Defenders what Hydra was to the later Avengers movies, but with ninjas.
I think what the first episode, “The H-Word,” accomplished is truly remarkable in that it seamlessly integrated these characters and the tones of their show together and got you prepared to see them all interact with one another. For the majority of the first episode, we go from scene-to-scene, getting reintroduced to the main characters, their supporting characters and where they are in their own storylines. The color palette in the background changes for each character being focused on: Daredevil’s scenes have a blood-red hue to the background, Jessica Jones has a tint of blue to her scenes, Luke Cage’s settings always have a golden aura and Iron Fist just has...green. I don’t mean to say that as a knock to Iron Fist, but color was a huge trait for the series of "Daredevil, Jessica Jones, "and "Luke Cage." Background music changes from scene to scene, however the best use of each character’s theme is during the intro for "The Defenders." The intro basically combines the 4 themes and mash them together.
The interactions between the 4 characters is exactly what I’ve been waiting for, they all play off these awkward introductions so perfectly. Everyone is confused what “The Immortal Iron Fist” is supposed to be, people are astounded by Daredevil’s abilities even though he’s blind. Jessica Jones functions as the comedic relief of the show, despite having the darkest, most depressing Netflix series. She has such a snarky attitude and delivers a humorous one-liner at least once an episode.
The pinnacle moment of this show is easily Episode 4 “Royal Dragon.” This episode takes place almost entirely in a Chinese restaurant where the character reconvene after a battle which introduced them all to one another. Most of this episode is just dialogue between the characters where they start to learn about one another and figure out how each of their stories play a role in the bigger threat at play. Another noteworthy episode to check out would be “Worst Behavior,” episode 3 where the iconic ‘hallway fight’ takes place. Each Netflix series has an episode near the beginning where the character takes on a wave of thugs in a small, confined location. This started with" Daredevil" and each Netflix show has tried to bank on the brilliance of his hallway fight since it aired. "Daredevil’s" hallway fight is so iconic considering it was filmed in one take and shows how brutal the blows these Netflix shows will inflict on their characters. Each punch affects Daredevil and his resilience makes the scene so much more intense.
Overall, this is a really well-paced show and a definite recommendation for those who are fans of the 4 Marvel Netflix shows. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend watching "The Defenders" without watching any of the others, despite the fact that it catches audiences up really well on the storylines of the characters. I think what makes this series great is dependent on the viewer's already-existing investment in the character. It’s hard to set aside time to binge a TV show, especially four 13-episode series, but if you want to see a gritty R-rated take on what Marvel can offer then these are definitely for you. I’m glad "The Defenders" doesn’t function as a conclusion to these characters. If anything, this show opens up more possibilities for small cameos or crossover episodes in future seasons of "Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist "and now "The Punisher." With only 8 episodes, this show doesn’t have the chance to leave you bored and keeps you invested in the plot which is luckily able to conclude quickly before it has the potential to get stale.
