It’s not uncommon for Marvel super-teams to start off with caustic relationships before they solidify their bonds. The Avengers were butting heads in their 2012 debut with Steve Rogers challenging Tony Stark to a few rounds outside of his suit, and the Guardians started out as outlaws forced together through chance before they became a close family.
Netflix’s new show The Defenders not only takes that sense of tension to new levels, it makes it a selling point. Jessica Jones, Matt Murdock, Luke Cage and Danny Rand are all clearly good people, but they still have separate agendas that can’t help but collide, even when they’re trying to prevent New York City from being destroyed.
At a brisk eight episodes, this definitely feels like the most compact Netflix Marvel series to date, but it takes some time- actually, about at the halfway point- for the team to form. The first three episodes focus on each of their respective investigations that wind up leading back to Midland Circle Financial. In reality, it’s a decoy company for The Hand, back once again to terrorize everyone’s neighborhoods.
Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver), its frontwoman and one of the Hand’s five leaders, is slowly dying. Alongside a resurrected Elektra Natchios (Elodie Young), she puts together a plan to open a gate that allegedly holds the secrets of immortality. This would also result in the foundation of New York collapsing and the certain deaths of millions, but when you’re a Marvel character with money and no morals, that’s hardly an issue. When Danny (Finn Jones) and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) return from Cambodia, Jones (Krysten Ritter, as dry as ever) investigates a husband gone missing, Murdock (Charlie Cox) becomes her legal rep, and Cage (Mike Colter) tries to steer the local kids away from the Hand’s connections, their paths converge and sparks start flying.
Tension and contentious relationships abound among the bad guys as well as the good, with a number of Alexandra’s associates openly questioning her leadership and management of Elektra. Weaver has a great intimidating, but still sophisticated presence in her role, as does Wai Ching Ho returning as Madame Gao. But this is an action show, and on that front Elektra is still easily the most interesting Hand member. When the focus is on her as opposed to the Five Fingers, the story feels like it picks up.
The fact that the Hand’s plan is so convoluted and downright weird doesn’t help, either- even after the big reveal occurs, there are still some unanswered plot holes regarding what they’re capable of doing. I get that the idea was to keep an air of mystery around them, but after they’ve been built up so strong throughout the previous shows like Iron Fist and Daredevil, the execution of their grand scheme could have been better.
Still, for all of The Hand’s problems, they still pose a believable threat to the heroes, who are even more disorganized. We get plenty of moments where the cast is clearly uncomfortable getting close to and trusting each other, their past experiences involving their own super-abilities playing a big part in giving them pause. Even though Matt’s mentor Stick (Scott Glenn) is confident in their abilities once they come together, our heroes have trouble believing in their potential chemistry.
The interactions between the leads are probably the strongest aspect of The Defenders. Colter’s Cage is still unflinchingly noble, often trying to act as the voice of reason among the quartet, and he still has a great dynamic with Ritter. Jessica’s constant deadpanning and snarking on everything results in some of the funnier lines in the series, and Cox’s Murdock has a good deal of heart. Finn Jones’s Danny has received a lot of grief from people, but I honestly found him a lot more likable here than I did in his own series. There’s one interesting scene between Luke and Danny where Luke calls him out on his privilege after a prior altercation gets a teenage boy arrested, pointing out the differences he could make with his wealth. It serves as a humbling experience for Danny, and overall it feels as if he’s matured a bit.
The side characters are no less entertaining- Misty Knight (Simone Missick) is a delight to watch here, and her chemistry with Ritter’s Jones is strong. Colleen and Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) both get individual moments to stand out, but some of the more heartwarming and interesting moments in the series come between them when they’re being friends, kicking ass together or just encouraging each other. I’ll admit it does feel like a needed break after watching the main four heroes squabble so often.
Visually, there’s a stronger use of color in Defenders than one might imagine given its gritty tone. Matt is consistently shot in reds, Danny in his trademark dark greens and Luke always has a hint of gold on or near him in many scenes. Jones is presented in a navy-violet hue that’s blatantly noticeable at times, while Alexandra is always dressed in and showcased near pale whites. The fight and action scenes come off like a hybrid of all four respective shows- the intensity of many parts of Daredevil, the noir-esque vibe of Jessica’s show, the martial arts of Iron Fist and Luke Cage’s thrilling sequences complete with a hip-hop soundtrack in the background.
I think some aspects of the story in The Defenders could have been fleshed out better, and there are some cliché moments. But generally, it’s still an entertaining series that I can recommend, and a fun climax to this phase of Netflix’s Marvel shows. The smaller episode number keeps it from ever feeling like a drag, as it usually doesn’t take very long for the drama to pick up speed. I would have liked to have seen something more interesting on the part of the villains, Weaver’s performance aside, but the four leads make it worth following. As broken and flawed as they are, they’re still very sympathetic characters who are more heroic than they realize, even if they don’t like to think of themselves that way.