The Defenders, the eight episode Netflix series featuring Marvel’s street level crime fighters has finally arrived. After watching the highly anticipated series there are definitely some things that fans of the previous four series (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist) as well as the comics will like but the experience will leave them wanting more.
The leads are the best thing about the series, hands down. Led by the witty and sarcastic Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones), Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Mike Colter (Luke Cage) and Finn Jones (Iron Fist) they all deliver fine performances that carry most of the episodes especially when the writing lets them down. Ritter is particularly good, continuing the strong portrayal of Jones that made her show such a hit. Although his Danny Rand character still exhibits some of the traits that turned some viewers off Finn’s Rand in his own series, here he has matured somewhat and takes his place as the young, naive hero archetype on the team. He’s at the start of his heroic journey, a fact even the villains notice often referring to him as the dumbest Iron Fist ever. More dream sequence Danny would be welcome when the next Iron Fist and Defenders installments hit the small screen.
The chemistry between the foursome is also one of the series’ highlights. The scenes with Jones and Cage work really well and even though Claire and Luke are a couple there are hints the size of Manhattan that The Defenders’ power couple still have a thing for each other. Cox’s Murdock is the grizzled warrior who becomes the reluctant leader and has some great scenes bringing his teammates up to speed on the Hand and their latest weapon, Elektra. In a nod to the comics the first seeds of the Danny Rand/Luke Cage friendship are planted although things get off to a rocky start when the streetwise Cage lectures Danny on the finer points of privilege.
Another highlight is the number of women that drive the narrative over the course of the miniseries. Sigourney Weaver’s Alexandra, Madam Gao (Wai Ching Ho), Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick), Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), Misty Knight (Simone Missick) and Elektra (Elodie Yung) all feature prominently at some point in the series. Having the Hand run by a woman and with Elektra as its main weapon were excellent decisions but The Defenders suffers from something that has plagued several Marvel Cinematic Universe offerings: underwhelming villains.
There are few memorable villains in the MCU and a closer look into the Hand’s internal structure does nothing to improve the lot. Elektra is a serviceable hench but she was way more compelling in the Daredevil series. The “empty vessel killing machine” angle left Yung with few lines and her character doesn’t really shine until the final few episodes. Alexandra, as head of the world’s most criminal organization, rarely demonstrates why she’s been at the top of the Hand’s food chain for so long. Even though she’s on death’s doorstep for much of the series you never really get much insight into why she’s the one the others fall in line behind. Frankly, the Hand doesn’t seem nearly as menacing as they did during the first two seasons of Daredevil. Maybe their mysterious nature was what made them intriguing and now that we know so much the luster is gone. It’s kind of like finding out the next morning that the hot guy you met last night has terrible hygiene issues and snores like a buzz saw.
A weak plot did nothing to enhance the villains or heroes and wasted the talents of a great cast. While chemistry between the Defenders cast will only get better for the inevitable follow up to this miniseries here’s hoping the writers raise the stakes the next time out and give them villains worthy of their talents. Maybe inquiring if Wilson Fisk has some free time will cure what ails this edition of The Defenders.
