Nearly a decade ago, Marvel Comics began building its cinematic universe, step by step. 2 "Iron Man" movies, "The Incredible Hulk", "Thor", & "Captain America: The First Avenger" set the stage for "The Avengers", and all of those movies hit the top of the box office chart.
After forging a deal with Netflix to build a similar line of TV programs for the online streaming service, Marvel hoped to duplicate their success. What they have found, however, is that they've become vulnerable to the law of diminishing returns.
Their online incarnation of The Defenders isn't close to "Avengers", not by any stretch. Instead, it continues the downward spiral of the Marvel-Netflix line that started earlier this year with Iron Fist. There, the biggest problem was that show's charismatically-challenged star, Finn Jones. That Defenders has just 8 episodes as opposed to 13 for the other series in the line means Marvel is intent on minimalizing the damage this miniseries could cause.
As the series begins, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), aka Daredevil, has put his red suit away and has found success in the courtroom, all the while grieving over the seeming loss of his ex, Elektra, unaware that the Hand claimed Elektra for their own nefarious purposes at the end of season 2 of Daredevil. Detective Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) has gotten her agency back on track, but the mountain of offers for cases is proving to be too much, and one client ends up dead in her office when Elektra, now answering to her Hand codename, Black Sky, kills him.
Luke Cage (Mike Colter) is out of prison again, and back in New York, where he immediately gets busy with Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson). One of the Hand's "fingers" is working in Harlem, and that gets Cage's attention, leading to a meeting with Iron Fist.
Stick (Scott Glenn), Matt's mentor, is the one who ultimately brings the team together. Matt and Danny Rand find they have something in common. Danny's girlfriend, martial arts instructor Colleen Wing, and police detective Misty Knight (Simone Bissett) are on the periphery, and not just for support.
At the forefront for the Hand is Alexandra, an immortal (Sigourney Weaver), who has used a variety of aliases in her lifetime. Bokudo (Ramon Rodriguez) returns after seemingly having been killed off on Iron Fist. And, then, there is Madame Gao, who has menaced both Iron Fist & Daredevil.
So, where does this go wrong?
Showrunners Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez also worked on season 2 of Daredevil, and while Ramirez co-wrote virtually every episode with either Petrie, who left early in production, or other writers, neither actually has clue one about building team chemistry. Too much time is spent on expository dialogue and characters standing around when they could be doing something at key moments. It takes them half the series just to get the team together and on the same page. The second half is a muddled mess that only gets worse instead of better.
Without spoiling too much, there are plot threads left at the end that will set up season 2 of Luke Cage and season 3 of Daredevil. You just have to hope the quality of writing improves on The Punisher, reportedly due before the end of the year.
Right now, scope the trailer.
The comic book version of The Defenders had its genesis some 45-odd years ago with different characters, although Cage & Iron Fist were members of the "non-team" in various incarnations, and I think Daredevil might've been, too. The current incarnation of the comic has our four stars in a different storyline, and we'll address that another time.
Rating: C--.
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