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The Defenders (miniseries)

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The Defenders
File:Defenders Netflix.jpg
Genre
Created by
Based on
Starring
ComposerJohn Paesano
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
ProducerEvan Perazzo
Production locationNew York City
Cinematography
  • Matthew J. Lloyd[1]
  • Jim McMillan
Editors
  • Jonathan Chibnall
  • Miklos Wright
  • Michael Knue
Running time44–55 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNetflix
ReleaseAugust 18, 2017 (2017-08-18)
Related
Marvel Cinematic Universe television series

Marvel's The Defenders, or simply The Defenders, is an American web television miniseries created by Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez for Netflix, based on the Marvel Comics characters Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, who form the eponymous superhero team. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise and is the culmination of a series of interconnected shows from Marvel and Netflix. The miniseries is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, Nine and a Half Fingers, Inc., and Goddard Textiles, with Ramirez serving as showrunner.

The limited series stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Daredevil, Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, and Finn Jones as Danny Rand / Iron Fist, all reprising their roles from their individual series. The miniseries also stars Eka Darville, Elden Henson, Jessica Henwick, Simone Missick, Ramón Rodríguez, Rachael Taylor, Deborah Ann Woll, Élodie Yung, Rosario Dawson, Scott Glenn, and Sigourney Weaver. Development on the miniseries began in late 2013, with Cox the first actor cast in May 2014. Petrie and Ramirez joined as showrunners in April, after serving in the same role on the second season of Daredevil, though Petrie left with the start of filming, which took place in New York City from October 2016 to March 2017.

The Defenders premiered in New York on July 31, 2017, with the full season of eight episodes released on August 18, 2017 on Netflix.

Premise

Set a few months after the events of the second season of Daredevil,[2] and a month after the events of the first season of Iron Fist,[3] the vigilantes Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist team up in New York City to fight a common enemy: The Hand.[4]

Cast and characters

Cast of The Defenders at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con

Main

Recurring

  • Wai Ching Ho as Gao: One of the five "fingers" of The Hand. Ho reprises her role from previous Marvel Netflix series.[13]
  • J. Mallory McCree as Cole Miller: A young man from Harlem that gets involved with The Hand to try and make ends meet.
  • Michelle Federer as Michelle Raymond: A woman that approaches Jones about her missing husband.
  • Chloe Levine as Lexi Raymond: The daughter of Jim and Michelle Raymond
  • Babs Olusanmokun as Sowande / White Hat: One of the five "fingers" of The Hand, who uses Harlem teenagers to clean up Hand operations.
  • Ron Simons as Strieber: Knight's police Captain.
  • Yutaka Takeuchi as Murakami: One of the five "fingers" of The Hand.

Guest

  • Peter McRobbie as Lantom: A Catholic priest and confidante for Murdock. McRobbie reprises his role from Daredevil.[14]
  • Debbi Morgan as Delores Miller: Cole's mother.
  • Marko Zaror as Shaft: A member of The Chaste.[15]
  • Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth: A lawyer and ally of Jones and Rand. Moss reprises her role from previous Marvel Netflix series.[6]
  • Rob Morgan as Turk Barrett: A low-level criminal who crosses paths with Daredevil and Luke Cage. Morgan reprises his role from previous Marvel Netflix shows.
  • Amy Rutberg as Marci Stahl: Nelson's girlfriend and fellow lawyer. Rutberg reprises her role from Daredevil.
  • Susan Varon as Josie: Owner of a bar frequented by Nelson and Murdock. Varon reprises her role from Daredevil.
  • Alex Moggridge as John Raymond: An architect who gets involved with The Hand, and whose missing persons case leads to Jones and Murdock's investigations.
  • Nicole Yannetty as Nicole: An intern at Walker's talk show. Yannetty reprises her role from Jessica Jones.

Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance through an on-set photograph as NYPD Captain Irving Forbush, the same photograph seen in previous Marvel Netflix series.[16][17] The Aeolus Quartet also cameo as themselves.

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"The H Word"S. J. ClarksonDouglas Petrie & Marco RamirezAugust 18, 2017 (2017-08-18)
While hunting agents of the Hand in Cambodia, Danny Rand / Iron Fist and Colleen Wing are told that the war they are fighting is actually taking place in New York City. There, Matt Murdock has given up his life as the vigilante Daredevil and is working as a pro bono lawyer. He remains conflicted due to his feelings for Elektra Natchios, who died fighting the Hand. Luke Cage, his name cleared by Murdock's ex-partner Foggy Nelson, returns from prison to the streets of Harlem where police detective Misty Knight informs him of local kids who have been getting involved with a mysterious business and ending up dead. After learning that all her major organs are failing and she has little time to live, a woman informs her colleagues to speed up their plans, and subsequently watches with a resurrected Natchios as what seems like an earthquake tears through New York, felt by Rand and Wing as they return, and private investigator Jessica Jones as she discovers explosive while searching for a missing husband that an anonymous caller warned her to avoid.
2"Mean Right Hook"S. J. ClarksonLauren Schmidt Hissrich & Marco RamirezAugust 18, 2017 (2017-08-18)
Jones calls the police, but Knight sees her taking some evidence as she leaves the scene. Cage follows some leads on local kids, and finds them being sent to clean up a workshop where several enemies of the Hand have been murdered. Rand and Wing are also investigating the workshop, leading to a fight between Rand and Cage which only ends when the police arrive. The mysterious woman, Alexandra, is informed that her group's plans have been halted by a mystical wall. Alexandra believes this may actually be a door, and interrogates an old enemy, Stick, for answers on this. Jones is warned off her investigation by lawyer Jeri Hogarth, who later tells Nelson to keep any fallout from Jones's actions away from their firm. Jones returns to her apartment to find the missing man, John Raymond. They are attacked by Natchios, but he kills himself first. Jones chases Natchios, but is caught and arrested by Knight. Murdock soon arrives to serve as Jones's lawyer, having made an agreement with Nelson to carry out some of his extra work.
3"Worst Behavior"Peter HoarLauren Schmidt Hissrich & Douglas PetrieAugust 18, 2017 (2017-08-18)
Months ago, the Hand acquired the ancient weapon Black Sky—the body of Natchios—and used the last of their resources to resurrect her. Under Alexandra's tutelage, the Black Sky was prepared to fight as a weapon against the Hand's enemies. Now, Jones dismisses Murdock's help, but he becomes interested in her case and begins investigating it himself. Cage tells his girlfriend Claire Temple about his fight with Rand, whom she knows. Temple organizes a meeting between the two, hoping they can work together to fight the Hand, but they clash over their respective backgrounds. Inspired by some of Cage's comments, Rand decides to take a different approach and uses his corporate influence to find the Hand's new front, Midland Circle. Cage visits the mother of one of the local kids the Hand had hired, while Jones investigates Raymond's job. They also learn of a connection to Midland Circle. Cage arrives there to help Rand fight the Hand, soon followed by Jones and Murdock. They are attacked by the Black Sky, but Rand drives her off.
4"Royal Dragon"Phil AbrahamDouglas Petrie & Marco RamirezAugust 18, 2017 (2017-08-18)
Rand, Cage, Jones, and Murdock escape to a nearby restaurant where they hide from the Hand. With everyone introduced, Rand proposes that they work as a team to defeat the Hand, but Murdock is unwilling to get involves, and Jones leaves. Stick escapes from the Hand and finds the group, having already known Murdock and known of Rand. He explains that a long time ago the elders of K'un-Lun came together to study the healing powers of qi, but five among them wished to use this power to live forever and were cast out. They became the five fingers of the Hand, and include Alexandra (who has gone by many names through the centuries), Madame Gao, Sowande (who has been recruiting the Harlem kids), Murakami, and the recently deceased Bakuto. Now the Hand have defeated all that oppose them, except for Stick and the Iron Fist. Alexandra arrives and offers to spare New York if Rand leaves with her, since their plan requires the Iron Fist, but he rejects her offer. The Black Sky attacks, and Jones reluctantly returns to help.
5"Take Shelter"Uta BriesewitzLauren Schmidt Hissrich, Douglas Petrie & Marco RamirezAugust 18, 2017 (2017-08-18)
The Hand converges on the restaurant, and Murdock lures the Black Sky away from the fight. When he calls her Elektra, she flees, but not before preventing Murakami from killing Murdock. Cage is able to kidnap Sowande while the others escape. After Sowande warns that their loved ones will be targeted next, they convince their friends to stay with Knight at the police precinct until they are out of danger. While doing this, Wing is confronted by a resurrected Bakuto, who unsuccessfully attempts to recruit her to his cause after raising her as a member of the Hand before she met and joined with Rand. Murdock decides to take up his Daredevil identity once again, something that concerns the leaders of the Hand due to his relationship with Natchios. Murakami questions Alexandra's reliance on the Black Sky to complete their goals and notes that they can all be killed now that their resources were used on Natchios. He suggests that they devise a new plan without Alexandra. Stick decapitates Sowande when he attempts to escape capture.
6"Ashes, Ashes"Stephen SurjikDrew Goddard & Marco RamirezAugust 18, 2017 (2017-08-18)
Now realizing that the Hand wants the Iron Fist as a key to unlock something, the group decides to hide Rand away while they continue the fight. However, Rand disagrees and attacks the others. They stop him, and tie him up, with Cage and Stick watching over him while Jones and Murdock continue the investigation of Raymond. Natchios begins to regain memories of her previous life, but Alexandra insists that she is not that person anymore. Meanwhile, the other leaders of the Hand learn of Sowande's death, and continue to lose faith in Alexandra's leadership. Murdock and Jones learn that there is something beneath Midland Circle, a hole to which Murdock had come across previously when dealing with the Hand. They return to the group with plans of attacking the building, to find Stick attempting to murder Rand to keep the Hand from using him. They are interrupted by Natchios, who kills Stick and takes Rand. Alexandra gloats to the other leaders about this victory, but is murdered herself by Natchios who claims leadership of the Hand.
7"Fish in the Jailhouse"Félix Enríquez AlcaláLauren Schmidt Hissrich & Marco RamirezAugust 18, 2017 (2017-08-18)
Jones, Murdock, and Cage wake up in the police precinct as suspects for the murders of Sowande and Stick. They tell Knight about the Hand, but try not to go into the details or let her get involved much to the chagrin of her superiors. The remaining fingers of the Hand agree to let Natchios pursue her goals, hoping that she will grant them access to the substance they need to avoid death (the last of their supply was used on Natchios). She takes Rand below the building to the mystical door that they need him to open. Jones, Murdock, and Cage escape the precinct and go to Midland Circle, where they are confronted by Gao, Bakuto, and Murakami. Wing soon arrives to help, bringing with her the explosives that Raymond had been stockpiling. The group drives the fingers of the Hand away. Knight and Temple arrive soon after, and Knight agrees to stall the police while the others get to Rand. Natchios tricks Rand into opening the door, causing a blast that knocks out power throughout the city. Rand awakens beneath the skeleton of a dragon.
8"The Defenders"Farren BlackburnLauren Schmidt Hissrich & Marco RamirezAugust 18, 2017 (2017-08-18)
Gao explains to Rand that like he gained the power of the Iron Fist from a dragon, the substance that the Hand uses for resurrection comes from the bones of dragons. The Hand begins harvesting the skeleton, and Gao notes that this will weaken the foundations of the city and cause widespread destruction. Wing and Temple place the explosives so as to destroy the building once the others escape. They are confronted by Bakuto, who cuts off Knight's arm when she arrives to help. Wing kills Bakuto, but his body sets off the timer for the explosives. Jones, Murdock, and Cage arrive in the cavern to help Rand, and they fight the members of the Hand together. When Murdock realizes that the explosives are about to go off, he gets the others to leave immediately. He remains to plead with Natchios, and the two are together as the building implodes around them, as well as Gao and Murakami. The entire situation is covered up, and Rand, Jones, and Cage look to move on with their lives, protecting the city. Murdock later wakes up with a nun at his side.

Production

Development

In October 2013, Deadline reported that Marvel was preparing four drama series and a miniseries, totaling 60 episodes, to present to video on demand services and cable providers, with Netflix, Amazon, and WGN America expressing interest.[18] A few weeks later, Marvel and Disney announced that Marvel Television and ABC Studios would provide Netflix with live action series centered around Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, leading up to a miniseries based on the Defenders.[19] In November 2015, Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief Joe Quesada stated there was no apprehension from Marvel in changing the line up of the Defenders from the "classic" original line-up (Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor and Silver Surfer) to Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, "because to the world at large, no one knows who the Defenders are. So the idea of taking the concept and name and applying it to [the Marvel Cinematic Universe] feels wholly natural" adding that Marvel has "a wonderful concept" behind why the group would form in the MCU and why they would be called the Defenders.[20]

In April 2016, Marvel announced that Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez, the showrunners for the second season of Marvel's Daredevil, would serve as showrunners and executive producers on Marvel's The Defenders. Daredevil creator Drew Goddard also serves as an executive producer on the miniseries,[21] along with Karim Zreik, Cindy Holland, Allie Goss, Alison Engel, Kris Henigman, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Joe Quesada, Jim Chory, and head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb.[22] S. J. Clarkson, director of the first two episodes, also serves as an executive producer on the first episode.[23] In January 2015, Netflix COO Ted Sarandos had stated that the series was "eligible to go into multiple seasons for sure" and Netflix would look at "how well [they] are addressing both the Marvel fanbase but also the broader fanbase" in terms of determining if additional seasons would be appropriate.[24] However, in July 2016, Loeb referred to the miniseries as a one-off event rather than a season of an ongoing story. Loeb also confirmed that the miniseries would consist of eight episodes, and stated that Petrie and Ramirez would consult with Melissa Rosenberg, Cheo Hodari Coker, and Scott Buck—the showrunners of Marvel's Jessica Jones, Marvel's Luke Cage, and Marvel's Iron Fist, respectively—on how "their characters would react" to certain situations;[25] the other showrunners read each of the scripts for The Defenders and provided insight into each individual character's world.[26] On this collaboration, Petrie said of Rosenberg specifically that she was "wonderful because she's in this position of being a fellow artist and letting us do what we do, but at the same time loving her character and being protective of her character and wanting us to get it right and wanting to guide us and help up, but also let us be free." Rosenberg added that all of the showrunners for the other series "felt really included in the process."[27] Loeb compared this relationship to Joss Whedon's approach with the similar crossover in the MCU films, Marvel's The Avengers, for which Whedon "sought out all of the creative input from everybody that had worked on Iron Man and Hulk and Captain America and Thor, but he had to make The Avengers its own thing."[25]

At the start of filming in October 2016, Petrie left the series as co-showrunner. Loeb explained, "We got to a point where the scripts were done, and we wanted Marco to continue, and Doug pursued other avenues."[26] Finn Jones said The Defenders "feels like the end of Phase One" of the Marvel Netflix series, with the events of the miniseries leading into "the beginning of another phase".[28]

Writing

One of the things early on that I found helpful was not to think about how many differences [the other series] have but to go the opposite way and think about how much they have in common ... there’s a recurring theme here with people who are orphans or people who don’t understand this urge but feel the need to do good and are constantly fighting inner turmoil and having that affect their personal lives ... We didn’t think about it in terms of how we’ll combine all the tones. We thought about the tone as its own thing. It’s about making sure this thing is something that could encapsulate all four worlds.

—Showrunner Marco Ramirez on combining elements from the individual series to craft the tone of The Defenders[29]

By late May 2016, Petrie and Ramirez had turned in a completed story for the miniseries,[30] based on a "very bare-bones structure" from Loeb.[26] The latter described the completed story as "epic", feeling that all the characters "have great roles ... where everyone feels like they’re telling more of their own ongoing tale."[30] The intention was for the miniseries to feel like "Daredevil season 2.5, a Luke Cage season 1.5, a Jessica Jones 1.5, and Iron Fist 1.5," telling "the story that came after their immediate seasons and before their next ones."[26] Loeb compared this dynamic to the Olympics, where "you get to know all of these athletes in their various sports all throughout their careers, and then once every four years they're going to get together and compete against each other."[25] Coker further compared the miniseries to the forming of the Wu-Tang Clan and Voltron.[31]

Petrie noted that the intent was not to stop any of the character arcs built in the previous series, rather each character is "just taking this incredible epic detour then going back into their own respective pools."[27] Goddard talked about the resulting genre for the miniseries, since each of the individual series were different from one another, feeling that bringing them all together created "its own genre".[32] Ramirez added that the series' tone was "one of the most challenging and most exciting parts of this project", and "has really just been about organically blending [the tones of the previous series] together so that it feels like they're all cohesive and all of a piece."[33] Ramirez and the series' writing team also wanted to ensure the project did not feel like "a corporate mandate", striving to make it "feel earned and real and grounded ... and also topical and important" as the individual series had done.[26]

Cautioning against the "easy comparison" to The Avengers, Loeb said the aim with The Defenders was to say, "'OK, how do we do that and how do we do it different?' We saw how the Avengers came together [and] it doesn’t quite go as smoothly as you’d like it to go."[34] He added, "The Defenders didn’t have a 'D' on their belt buckles and a Defenders Tower. We agreed from the very beginning that these folks could at the very end go, 'I never want to see your face again.'"[35] Loeb also noted that "the sky's not going to open up and aliens aren't going to come flying out of it. That's the Avengers' job, that's what they're supposed to do. The street level heroes always come from a very real place."[31] Regarding the antagonist, Ramirez said having the Defenders face an alien threat like the Avengers, for example, was "never an option", as the crossover was always going to be a street level New York story. This did prove challenging in choosing an antagonist though, as the four Defenders are shown to be "really powerful people" in their individual series, and the miniseries' villain had to prove a challenge for the four of them together.[33] To form the team-up, Ramirez stated that each Defender begins to investigate a mystery separately, with the four all converging on the same location after "following their own trail of bread crumbs". Ramirez added, "We wanted them all caught off guard [by seeing one another at the same location]. Once they're in that room together, it's kind of like, 'Oh, shit, who are you?'"[35]

Casting

At the end of May 2014, Charlie Cox was cast as Daredevil for Daredevil.[36] In December 2014, Krysten Ritter was cast as Jessica Jones and Mike Colter was cast as Luke Cage for Jessica Jones,[37][38] with Colter also headlining Luke Cage.[38] In February 2016, Finn Jones was reported to be cast as Danny Rand for Iron Fist,[39] with Marvel confirming his casting the following month. They also confirmed that Cox, Ritter, Colter, and Jones would all reprise their roles to star in The Defenders.[40][21]

In March 2016, Élodie Yung, who portrays Elektra Natchios in Daredevil, expressed interest in appearing in The Defenders "on the bad side... that would be a good dynamic I think—to be confronted by these four superheroes".[41] The next month, Eka Darville said that he would reprise his Jessica Jones role of Malcolm Ducasse in The Defenders.[5] In September, Simone Missick stated that she would be reprising the role of Misty Knight from Luke Cage in the miniseries.[8] At New York Comic-Con in October, Sigourney Weaver was announced as playing the main antagonist of the miniseries,[42] later revealed to be Alexandra.[43] The producers had referred to the character as "a Sigourney Weaver type" for four months before Loeb contacted the actress about the project.[44] After production on the miniseries began at the end of that month, Marvel confirmed that Darville, Missick, and Yung would appear,[6][12][45] alongside Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page,[12] Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson,[6] Scott Glenn as Stick, Rachael Taylor as Trish Walker, Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple,[11] and Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing,[7] all also reprising their roles from previous Marvel Netflix series, along with Ramón Rodríguez as Bakuto.[10]

Other actors reprising their roles for the miniseries include Wai Ching Ho as Madame Gao,[13] Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth,[6] Peter McRobbie as Father Lantom,[14] Rob Morgan as Turk Barrett, Amy Rutberg as Marci Stahl, Susan Varon as Josie, and Nicole Yannetty as Nicole. Additionally, J. Mallory McCree recurs as Cole; Michelle Federer and Chloe Levine portray Michelle and Lexi Raymond; Ron Simons appears as police captain Strieber; and other leaders of the Hand include Babs Olusanmokun as Sowande, and Yutaka Takeuchi as Murakami.

Design

Stephanie Maslansky is the costume designer for The Defenders, after serving the same role for the previous Marvel Netflix series.[46] Maslansky noted, "we celebrated the differences, and the coming together of these four very distinct characters. For each character, there is definitely a color palette–Daredevil you think of the reds, Jessica Jones shades of navies and lavender, Iron Fist you think of the olive green family and with Luke Cage it's the golds, the Harlem colors. We utilized those palettes, and that gave us the distinction."[47] For Alexandra, Maslansky wanted "a lot of depth to her wardrobe" that was "grounded in an older world. Maybe very, in a way, European. More of a global feeling to her wardrobe, very lush... her wardrobe reflects that kind of ancientness."[48] The series' title sequence "teases all the heroes through colored topographical views of New York City."[9]

Filming

Marvel announced in February 2014 that the series would be filmed in New York City,[49] with Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief Joe Quesada stating in April that the show would be filming in areas of Brooklyn and Long Island City that still look like the old Hell’s Kitchen, in addition to sound stage work.[50] In April 2016, Cox confirmed a late 2016 start for filming,[51] following the conclusion of production on Iron Fist in October 2016.[52][53][42] The Defenders began filming on October 31, 2016,[54][55] under the working title Group Therapy.[56] Additional filming took place in the Stapleton neighborhood on Staten Island.[57] Ritter revealed that the series would be filming back-to-back with the second season of Jessica Jones, adding there was the potential to overlap the two productions.[58] Filming wrapped on March 19, 2017.[59]

Music

In February 2017, John Paesano was announced as the composer for the miniseries, after previously composing the first two seasons of Daredevil.[60]

Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins

The Defenders is the final miniseries of the initially ordered Netflix series, after Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist.[52][53] In August 2014, Vincent D'Onofrio, Wilson Fisk in Daredevil, stated that after the "series stuff with Netflix", Marvel has "a bigger plan to branch out".[61] In March 2015, Loeb spoke on the ability for the series to crossover with the MCU films and the ABC television series, saying, "It all exists in the same universe. As it is now, in the same way that our films started out as self-contained and then by the time we got to The Avengers, it became more practical for Captain America to do a little crossover into Thor 2 and for Bruce Banner to appear at the end of Iron Man 3. We have to earn that. The audience needs to understand who all of these characters are and what the world is before you then start co-mingling in terms of where it's going."[62]

The four Defenders all initially meet at the offices of Midland Circle, which was previously mentioned in the second season of Daredevil and the first season of Iron Fist.[35][63]

Release

The Defenders was released on August 18, 2017, on the streaming service Netflix, worldwide,[64] in Ultra HD 4K and high dynamic range.[65] The eight, hour-long episodes were released simultaneously, as opposed to a serialized format, to encourage binge-watching, a format which has been successful for other Netflix series.[49][50][25]

Marketing

At San Diego Comic-Con International 2016, a teaser trailer was shown featuring the word "Defend" forming from pieces of the logos from the four previous series over "the ominous shape of a giant hand", along with Glenn providing a voice over as Stick, asking how the four heroes plan to save New York when they cannot save themselves.[66] For New York Comic Con later that year, the four Defenders' actors appeared together on stage, along with Weaver, to promote the miniseries.[42]

In April 2017, the release date for the series was revealed via a teaser trailer designed to look like security footage showing the four Defenders inside a Midland Circle elevator. The teaser also featured a hidden URL which led to a faux website for the New York Bulletin featuring "plenty of easter eggs and little details waiting to be discovered"; the bottom of the faux website also confirmed the miniseries' release date.[67] Dave Lewis of the Los Angeles Times felt having the security footage teaser end on the timecode 08:18:20:17, was "a fun way to indicate the show's release date".[68] A month later, Netflix and Marvel released an official trailer for the miniseries.[69] They also released multiple motion graphics showcasing various character crossovers through the social media accounts for The Defenders as well as each of the individual series. Nicole Sobon of Comic Book Resources felt releasing each of the graphics this way was "a smart marketing move by both Marvel and Netflix, as over the course of the years, the Twitter accounts [for each series] have managed to drive in plenty of fan interaction by their 'conversations' between the characters."[70] Cox, Ritter, Colter, Jones, and additional stars of the miniseries appeared at San Diego Comic-Con International 2017 to promote the series,[71] where the first episode was also screened.[72] The Defenders had its red carpet premiere at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center on July 31, 2017.[73]

Critical response

Sigourney Weaver received praise from critics for her appearance in The Defenders

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 78% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10 based on 55 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Marvel's The Defenders further develops well-known characters in an action-packed arc whose payoff packs more than enough of a punch to offset its flaws."[74] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 63 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[75]

The early screening of the first episode at San Diego Comic-Con was met by "applause throughout" from the crowd. Tracy Brown of the Los Angeles Times noted after "a quick refresher on where each hero's solo story left off... there is forward progress in the narratives for each" of the Defenders, despite them not interacting in the episode. She added that the episode "includes fighting, lawyering, drinking, destruction of property, and, yes, even a little bit of physical loving" as has come to be expected for the Marvel Netflix series, and concluded that "if every episode of The Defenders ends in a similar way to this pilot, fans may end up binge-watching the show without being able to help themselves."[76] Polygon's Julia Alexander was "stupidly excited to binge the rest of the season" after seeing the first episode. On the episode, Alexander said "Even though you know they’ll end up getting together to take on the worst villains the city has to offer, having a first episode to set up [the Defenders] own personal identities and narratives goes a long way for a show like this." She also called Weaver's Alexandra "one of the more entertaining and intriguing antagonists we’ve gotten in a Marvel/Netflix series," with her relationship to Elektra making her potentially "the most deadly."[77] Peter Sciretta for /Film called the episode "a fine start" to The Defenders, but felt it did not "do a great job of explaining these heroes for people who have not seen the individual series." He also commented on the use of color throughout the episode, with "colored lighting in the background to match the particular hero who is the focus of the scene" as a way to differentiate each character's story.[9]

Reviewing the first four episodes of the series, Katharine Trendacosta for io9 had positive thoughts, appreciating the writers for addressing many of "the questions viewers would have coming into the show, as well as the moments fans would love to see... It’s fanservice done right, without sacrificing the characters or the story." However, she did feel there was an overabundance of talking, explaining every part of the story. She concluded that "the good of The Defenders far outweighs the bad. The story isn’t revolutionary, and as usual, the villains have a typically over-the-top and hilariously convoluted plan—but it’s all a canvas to showcase Matt, Jessica, Luke, and Danny coming together as a team. They’re not just stronger together than they are apart—it turns out they’re more entertaining, too."[78] The Washington Post's David Betancourt also gave a positive review, saying, "The Defenders is the type of superhero streaming that we’ve come to expect from Netflix’s live-action Marvel productions. Well worth the wait, the new show is every bit the event that Marvel fans hoped it could be." He enjoyed the pairing of Cage and Rand, and felt Weaver's "compelling" Alexandra was "the biggest surprise" of the series.[79] Jeff Jensen for Entertainment Weekly gave the series a "B+" saying, the series is "a lively genre entertainment that recharges your interest in Marvel pop. It presents as a big event, yet values consolidation." He praised the fact that The Defenders was only 8 episodes long, compared to the 13 of previous Marvel Netflix seasons, and Petrie and Ramirez for "upping their own game, honoring the best parts of every series, and elevating the franchise."[80] Dan Jolin of Empire gave The Defenders 3 out of 5 stars, saying, "there is enough joy in watching the sparks fly as these four alpha characters finally collide to make you feel The Defenders might just have been worth the wait. It's a long-anticipated crossover series that delivers some engaging character clashes, but which fails — in the first half at least — to up the ante story-wise." He also called the villains of the series "a mild disappointment", with Weaver's Alexandra "yet another businessperson baddie whose dirty deeds are hidden by sharp suits" and The Hand "fail[ing] to ignite much excitement."[81]

Collider's Allison Keene also gave the miniseries 3 stars out of 5, noting, "It’s something new, but it has a lot of problems... If you thought Defenders would be a culminating chapter to the other Netflix Marvel series so far, think again. So far it feels like another prelude, and it makes one wonder if we’ll ever get to the main event." She felt some of the solo series issues such as pacing and narrative choices were still present, but like each, "there are still things to enjoy" including Jessica Jones and the banter among the heroes. Keane added that "the show doesn’t really come together" until the Defenders unite, which helps with some of the pacing issues, but felt one of the major mistakes of the series was setting the series around Rand and his connection to Rand Enterprises.[82] Reviewing the series for Uproxx, Alan Sepinwall felt The Defenders did "a good job of borrowing what worked best from the previous series: the fight scenes are mostly Daredevil-caliber rather than Iron Fist-caliber, Jessica gets a lot of snappy dialogue,... the music is strong (particularly in the Cage scenes), and Rosario Dawson as usual works wonders in making these characters feel like they could all be part of the same story." However, he also commented on the pacing of the four episodes reviewed, saying it was "yet another Netflix ultra-slow burn" and "a frustrating reminder that even at a relatively compact eight episodes, these Marvel Netflix shows still don’t have a great command of pacing." Once the four heroes meet in the fourth episode (after "a pretty impressive" fight), Sepinwall felt the series got better, but hoped in the second half of the season "both [the] show and team could justify their existence as something more than a package Marvel put together years ago in the hopes everything would work out."[83] Variety's Maureen Ryan felt The Defenders was "a workmanlike series that gets the job done with a reasonable amount of energy and a few bursts of flair. It may not offer the highest highs of Jessica Jones... [and] is occasionally a bit blander than an endeavor featuring deadly ninjas and elaborate costumes should be, [but] the eight-part drama has notable selling points, chief among them an elegant and fierce performance from Sigourney Weaver."[22]

USA Today's Kelly Lawler was more critical of the series, awarding it 2 out of 4 stars, feeling Rand was the "undeniable handicap" of the series, noting "One would hope that The Defenders would shy away from Danny and his petulance, but unfortunately, Iron Fist is integral to the larger plot. Every scene featuring him drags, and he is in too many to ignore, with clunkier dialogue than his fellows." She also felt The Defenders suffered from the pacing issue the previous individual series had, and while some of the character pairings worked, as a group the Defenders "lack chemistry". Lawler felt Weaver was "a bright spot" but concluded "The Defenders will likely please devoted Marvel fans who merely want to see these four in the same room... But viewers who were attracted to one or more of the Netflix series for their unique perspectives will be disappointed. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and even Iron Fist deserve better."[84]

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  83. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (July 28, 2017). "'The Defenders' (Eventually) Assemble In Netflix's Latest Marvel Drama". Uproxx. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  84. ^ Lawler, Kelly (July 26, 2017). "Review: Marvel's 'The Defenders' are better off fighting solo". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

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