Marvel's Defenders (Netflix) (1 Viewer)

[Sam Favate]

Since there wasn't a thread just for The Defenders, I thought I'd start one. Here's a trailer, just released this morning.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Not the best trailer, but there's something undeniably cool about seeing these characters that we've spent five collective seasons with (mostly) separately overlap and interact. When Misty Knight was interrogating Jessica Jones and Matt Murdock entered the room as her attorney, I got chills.

Glad to see the Elektra cliffhanger plays into this.

"Come As You Are" is a bit overused for these sorts of things.

 

[JustinCleveland]

As underwhelmed as I have been by Iron Fist--I've still 4 episodes to go and can't bring myself to go back to it--this was a breath of fresh air. Glad to see something that appears to have fun. Excited to see these characters share the screen.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Looks cool. Looking forward to this!

 

[Sam Favate]

New photos from the series:

http://mcuexchange.com/defenders-trailer-amasses-4-million-views-24-hours-new-photos-released/

 

[Sam Favate]

This is great:

The casts of the Defenders and Agents of SHIELD with Marvel TV exec Jeph Loeb.

More pics here:
https://mcuexchange.com/cast-defenders-agents-s-h-e-l-d-unite-marvel-tv-photoshoot/

 

[Matt Hough]

Love that pic!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

 

[Sam Favate]

The first episode was shown last night at SDCC. Here is a spoiler-free review:

https://mcuexchange.com/sdcc-marvel-the-defenders-first-episode-review/

Spoiler: it's a positive review.

 

[Sean Bryan]

New trailer

 

[Matt Hough]

Thanks for posting that trailer. I really enjoyed it.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Looking forward to August 18.

 

[Sam Favate]

Marvel’s The Defenders Season 2 Isn’t a Sure Thing Yet

http://screenrant.com/marvel-defenders-netflix-season-2-renewal/

but then, there's this (which predates the above):

Why Krysten Ritter Really Wants Defenders Season 2 To Happen

http://www.cinemablend.com/televisi...ter-really-wants-defenders-season-2-to-happen

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Looking forward to August 18.

It's kind of crazy that, after being so far off for so long, it's only three weeks away.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The always reliable Alan Sepinwall reports that the titular Defenders spend the first third of the season apart, and that the lower episode count has done nothing to address the pacing issues.

The critics only got the first half to watch in advance, so no word about the last four episodes. I haven't really minded the slow build-up on any of the other Netflix/Marvel series, so his criticism on the pacing isn't necessarily a problem for me. The real question is whether it can avoid the other shows' trap of creating artificial obstacles around the two-thirds point to delay the resolution three or four episodes back from its natural conclusion.

 

[JohnS]

Just about done with Iron Fist, even though I'm not liking it as much as the other Marvel Netflix shows.
I'm excited to see everyone on the screen at the same time.

 

[Sam Favate]

Positive review from EW:
http://ew.com/tv/2017/08/10/defende...l&xid=socialflow_facebook_entertainmentweekly

But The Defenders — a team-up saga that assembles the leads and supporting casts of all four shows and resolves some ongoing intrigues — is a lively genre entertainment that recharges your interest in Marvel pop. It presents as a big event, yet values consolidation. Marvel should embrace this approach moving forward.

 

[dana martin]

It's kind of crazy that, after being so far off for so long, it's only three weeks away.

Adam , just what i was thinking, and while Iron Fist wasn't as good as the initial three programs, what they have done on Netflix is pretty damn good, still in the MCU, but with a whole different pallet of colors, most of them a lot darker than what is on the big screen, and the addition of other "Hero's"" along the way only help the programming. Keep the episode count down but write it for substance true to the characters. so seven days away, and i am hyped,

then we have this to look forward to

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Final Trailer:


Featurette:

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I just finished watching the first episode. Some generally spoiler-free thoughts follow. It's definitely scaled up from the individual series, as The Avengers was from the individual movies. All four heroes have reputations now, and Sigourney Weaver's character is definitely much higher up in The Hand than anyone we've met so far.

The opener was directed by S.J. Clarkson, who'd previously directed the first two episodes of "Jessica Jones". It was a smart choice going with her, since "Jessica Jones" had the strongest pilot of the four previous series. Just the opening sequence of this alone, set in Cambodia, is more stylish than anything seen in the ABC Marvel series. Clarkson switches up the filmmaking techniques and uses color filters to help differentiate the various characters' worlds within this world: in the Daredevil scenes, red predominates; in the Jessica Jones scenes, purple predominates; the Luke Cage scenes skew heavily toward a golden orange-y yellow; and the Iron Fist scenes are cast in a greenish yellow. Only the scenes with Weaver's as-yet-unnamed antagonist have a neutral color palette.

The opener was written by "Daredevil" Season 2 showrunners Douglas Petrie & Marco Ramirez, and it shows. It's tough to adopt another writer's voice, and that's especially the case when the other writer has a strong voice. The Daredevil scenes feel like a seamless continuation from the second season finale. The scenes centered around the other characters feel a little bit more strained.

Finn Jones was the weakest of the four leads in their respective series, and he's the weakest here. His fight scenes, on the other hand, promise to be more exciting than what we got in "Iron Fist" Season 1. The one that we get at the start of this episode is deliberately hard to decipher, but it's fast-paced and intense and stylish.

John Paesano's score here is less impressive than his own stuff for "Daredevil", less impressive than Sean Callery's music for "Jessica Jones" and way less impressive than Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad's music for "Luke Cage". In "Luke Cage" Season 1, every bit of music had meaning and purpose. The Luke Cage scenes here are heavy on hip hop, but in a way that feels generic and untethered.

The episode culminates with:

Spoiler: Defenders 1x01 Spoiler

a major earthquake or explosion that causes widespread damage throughout New York City. After an hour spend following each of our four leads separately, the sheer scale of what the Hand has unleashed serves as a unifying device. From the various vantage points around the city, they all experience the same event at the same time. It was a nice way of upping the stakes beyond the more intimate conflicts in the individual series while proving to the audience that they all actually are operating in the same world, in the same city.

After receiving a diagnosis that her medical condition is terminal, with death sometime between a few weeks and a few months away, Weaver's character drastically speeds up the Hand's plans for New York City. The scenes with Madame Gao are interesting; she clearly disagrees with this decision, even though she doesn't have the power to change it. If our heroes have a chance to stop what's coming, it's because Weaver's character created an opening by putting events into motion before the Hand had a chance to account for every eventuality.

Elektra has indeed been resurrected, and in her rebirth she's stronger and faster than even the immortal Iron Fist. How much of the original Elektra is still in there remains an open question at the end of the first part.