The Defenders: Marvel and Netflix partner up and create a hit series

Marvel and Netflix have given their gritty answer to “The Avengers” with their latest installment, “The Defenders”. The series found its start with the release of the first season of “Daredevil” back in 2015, and after being built up over multiple shows with separate characters, has finally come to fruition.

“The Defenders” follows all of the previously visited Marvel characters featured in Netflix’s roster. Daredevil, Luke Cage, The Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones find their paths intersecting under dire circumstances. Discovering alarming information and connections between one another, they form a reluctant and awkward alliance.

Each protagonist brings their unique personality and motives to the table, creating an interesting dynamic among them. Daredevil doesn’t want to involve himself in vigilante work anymore, nor bring people of the sort into his now-stable lifestyle. Jessica Jones remains stubborn as ever, thinking that all of the “superhero” stuff isn’t worth her time. Luke Cage indirectly involves himself in a conspiracy larger than small-time crime in Harlem. And lastly, The Iron Fist is playing cat and mouse with enemies from his past.

“The Defenders” flaunts an excellent cast, to say the least. For fans that were unhappy with the portrayal of Danny Rand’s character in “Iron Fist”, seeing him get beat up by a blind lawyer is excellent closure. Pitting The Iron Fist against Matt Murdock (Daredevil) created tension among the group (and some pretty satisfying fight scenes).  However, fan approval of Danny’s character was somewhat improved with this show, signifying that he might be better suited as part of a team-focused story instead of a solo narrative.

The pre-established dynamic between Jessica Jones and Luke Cage also provided some tender moments amongst the chaos unfolding with the other protagonists. Each character in the show has a past that follows them, and issues they have yet to come to terms with. With this said, some characters have closer bonds than others.

The returning secondary characters made the show’s slower parts remain just as interesting, and actually helped develop the stories and characters from their respective shows. “The Defenders” gives audiences a deeper look at characters they’ve already gotten familiar with, making the plot so much more meaningful and story-driven.

Perhaps one of the best aspects of “The Defenders” is that some characters help further another show’s story arc, which expands the established universe even further. Some characters from previous Marvel/Netflix shows are actually very instrumental to the plots of other shows, and it was very interesting to see all of them come together and interact on common ground with “The Defenders”.

However, the show suffers a few downfalls in terms of runtime. The season is only 8 episodes long, which is a bit of a tight squeeze for the complex and extensive plot. Previously, each Marvel/Netflix series was given 13 episodes. This was the perfect number for each show to develop their respective characters, as well as leave their endings open to future installments.

Because of those 5 missing episodes, “The Defenders” feels somewhat rushed at a few moments. Though it’s technically classified as a miniseries, the show definitely should’ve gotten the 13 episode treatment. Marvel’s Netflix shows have (in total) surpassed $200 million in production costs, so it’s safe to say that “The Defenders” had to sacrifice runtime to stay within budget. Marvel’s saving grace is their obsessive fanbase, which quickly picked up on subtle details in previous shows to fill the blanks created by “The Defenders”.

As far as villains go, Sigourney Weaver’s character seemed like a pointless main antagonist for the show. That’s not to say that she didn’t do a fantastic job acting, however. Her character, Alexandra, felt somewhat forced when she was introduced so familiarly with past villains. The antagonists from past shows already had time to develop and impact audiences in their own unique ways. Alexandra is a completely new character, with no (emphasized) prior mention in the shows leading up to “The Defenders”. For this reason, her presence didn’t feel as meaningful or menacing as the other villains. Had the show been a few episodes longer, she would’ve had more time to connect with audiences and affirm her purpose in the scope of the show.

Generally speaking, “The Defenders” does a relatively decent job with unifying the protagonists against a common enemy, an ancient cult known as The Hand. Villains from the previous shows are members of the cult, known as “fingers”, and are lead by the newly introduced Alexandra. Each finger possesses immense power and influence, as well as borderline immortality. The Hand is a link between all but one of the previous shows, and has been a constant problem for Daredevil and The Iron Fist. Elektra Natchios (Daredevil’s previous love interest) seemingly died while fighting The Hand.

After Elektra’s death at the end of “Daredevil” season two, The Hand recovered her body and successfully resurrected her. Elektra has no memory of her previous life, and holds a mysterious power that essentially makes her a living weapon. Now that The Hand is unified, they’re concentrating their efforts to take complete control of Elektra’s abilities for their own gain. This complex story arc creates a lot of emotion in the “Daredevil” side of the plot, which was a great move on the writer’s part. Fans unanimously agree that “Daredevil” is the strongest of the Marvel/Netflix storylines, so it makes sense that “The Defenders” would hold a strong focus on Daredevil and his narrative.

Again, it’s really unfortunate that the series is so short. There are many moments that would have a significantly deeper impact on audiences, had they been given the proper time to unfold naturally. The show writers did a decent job with the pacing of the story, but it’s clear they had to rush things a bit between the crucial events. That being said, the plotline never falls flat or becomes uninteresting. “The Defenders” had a strong foundation starting out, thanks to the previous shows. This more or less makes up for any minor issues viewers had with the plot.

All in all, “The Defenders” is a worthy successor to Marvel’s prior Netflix installments. Fans can expect to see the aftershocks of the events that unfolded in the upcoming seasons of “Daredevil”, “Luke Cage”, “Jessica Jones” and “The Punisher”. Hopefully, these shows will elaborate on some of the shaky plot points that “The Defenders” wasn’t able to fully illustrate. Though it seemed a little too short, “The Defenders” deserves a 9 out of 10. Seeing iconic characters from completely separate shows come together as a team was a truly euphoric experience. These characters will continue to interact within their own shows, and that seems very promising.