The Defenders — REVIEW (spoiler free)
A decent job of tackling its heroes’ many personalities

Recently, I wrote an article for the Paley Center for Media about what The Defenders and Marvel’s other Netflix shows meant for “Genre TV” (you can find it here.) Thanks to technical difficulties, it has yet to be officially published, but since I finished writing it, I have watched all eight episodes of the Marvel miniseries. Like with Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist before it, The Defenders has its ups and downs. It ranks somewhere in the middle of the Marvel Netflix shows, but did a good job as the culmination to five seasons of television. Beyond anything else, The Defenders is impressive, but there is much more to say than just that.
I’ve been waiting for The Defenders since October 2013, when Marvel first announced they were shopping for at least 60 episodes of original content shows on Netflix and other streaming services. (Ultimately, a second season of Daredevil was added to the 60-episode order, along with everything slated for after The Defenders.) My feelings toward the previous solo series fall in line with the general audience consensus: Daredevil Season 1 and Jessica Jones were terrific, Daredevil Season 2 and Luke Cage were pretty good but not perfect, and Iron Fist was… a disappointment.
As I highlighted in my Genre TV article, a problematic trend throughout the shows was the later seasons’ tendency to muddle their own specific genres with traditional, safer superhero narratives. Daredevil Season 1 was a gritty detective drama, but Season 2 introduced armies of undead ninjas and flashier costumes and gadgets. The first half of Luke Cage was a bold, unapologetic look at the politics, violence, and culture unique to African-American life in Harlem, but later episodes downplayed those aspects to feature a tired “the villain is actually my brother” storyline that we’ve all seen before. My greatest worry for The Defenders was that the mixing of four distinct genres would result in a watered-down re-tread of all the superhero tropes that the best of Marvel’s Netflix shows have so far avoided. Even The Avengers, a great movie and one of Marvel’s finest, couldn’t entirely avoid this problem, so what chance did The Defenders stand?

In short, I was right… but not to the extent that I thought I’d be. At times, The Defenders was unable to show the differences in tone and setting of each of its protagonists’ distinct worlds. Most jarringly the use of color grading for each hero (yellow for Luke Cage, blue/purple for Jessica Jones, etc.) in the first few episodes would change radically from scene to scene. Quick, fun transitions of subway trains racing by and pigeons flying overhead saved these changes from being too jarring, but they were still easy to notice. Easier still was noticing that once any of the heroes met another one, there would be no distinct color grading at all, instead falling back on a muted palette that while realistic, lacked the artistic punch of previous scenes. This was the only distracting blend of genres in the miniseries. The other times genres were blended happened organically within the story, as the Defenders joined together to defeat a common foe.
Tonally, the show is most similar to the portions of Daredevil Season 2 that focused on Elektra and the Hand, who are the miniseries’ main antagonists. Sigourney Weaver’s Alexandra, the Hand’s mysterious and long-living leader, gives a commanding performance but her character itself is not all that interesting when separated from the great actress playing her. The inclusion of Marvel Netflix regular Madam Gao (Wai Ching Ho) is desperately needed to reinforce just how powerful Alexandra is supposed to be. There are a few other villains throughout the miniseries, mostly other Hand higher-ups, but none leave big impressions. By the end, the unpredictability and emotional arc of Elektra (Élodie Yung) are the show’s most intriguing forces for the Defenders to fight.
And speaking of the titular heroes, all do a good job of coming together, however reluctantly. Each is given their own time (with returning supporting characters) to establish who they are for new viewers. As he should be, Luke Cage (Mike Colter) is skeptical of Danny Rand’s (Finn Jones) claims that he is the immortal Iron Fist. Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) is apprehensive and suspicious of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), as she is of any new person in her life. They play off of each other very well, giving us some of the funniest and most engaging moments in the show. It’s a good thing that even in a world of magic cities, criminal syndicates, and exploding buildings, character is paramount.

The action is great, on par with Daredevil Season 1, but not entirely in that style. It’s great to see that during large action sequences, the choreography of each Defender is tailored to their talents and fighting styles. Daredevil is methodical and precise, while Jessica Jones is a brawler. Iron Fist has years of training behind him, and Luke Cage takes his opponents down with a single hit. The selling point of these shows has always been their down-to-earth scale, as compared to an Avengers movie or even to later seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Don’t get me wrong, the action in The Defenders is big, but not that big. It’s smaller in scale, but fits the universe of Marvel’s Netflix shows perfectly.
The dialogue can get repetitive at times, but usually moves along at a brisk pace. The Hand’s ultimate goal makes sense, but after seasons of unspecified build-up, seems less impressive than it should be. Most cameos and supporting parts from side characters are good (Misty, Colleen, Claire, and Stick in particular), but some feel tacked on and add little to the story. I’m glad that the Punisher (Jon Bernthal) did not appear, but we did get to see a short teaser for his upcoming show, which I’ll link to here. And yeah, Iron Fist is still a disaster. He’s much better now, but has a long way to go before I like him as much I do his fellow Defenders.
I’m optimistic for future seasons of Marvel’s Netflix shows (as well as The Punisher, out later this year) and The Defenders does set things up nicely for future stories, even tying in to certain acclaimed storylines from the comics. Marvel’s Netflix gamble has payed off very well and I hope it continues to do so. Not every show they produce needs to tie into a Defenders crossover, or even to other shows. As long as each one connects tangentially to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole, and embraces their own distinct genres and narratives, we are likely to get a lot of great television.


