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It’s strange to think that one of the most ambitious things Marvel had ever done at the time is now nothing more than an awkward footnote in the franchise’s history. Netflix’sThe Defenderscould be brought back in some form, if internet chatter is to be believed, but it’s too little too late. At this point, theMCUhas no real continuity or sense of progression, butThe Defendersare a productof an outdated franchise era, and it wouldn’t make sense to bring them back as a team. Not only was the show a disappointment, but it also relied on an old-fashioned, albeit more cohesive, form of world-building that would feel out of place in the currently sprawling MCU.
At the time,The Defendersdidn’t have the lofty scale of the post-EndgameMCU to live up to, andthere isn’t really any room left for the small-scale adventures of that team. The formation of The Defenders is much more akin to the style of build-up that was found in phase 1 of the MCU, and the team simply doesn’t have the chemistry or the necessity for the aliens and space magic that the MCU deals with now. The only reason thatDaredevilis being brought back is that it’s so good, significantly more so than the other three shows were.For where the MCU is going,The Defendersaren’t needed, and if they want to establish a separate TV universe, they will have to detangle some threads.
The Defenders
It was going to take a lot forThe Defendersto work and feel like a satisfying team. Fans had to watchmultiple seasons of TV,some of which were pretty poor, likeIron Fist, and it wasn’t enough when they were simply thrown into a room and told to have chemistry.The show struggled to justify its existence, with a half-baked threat that hadn’t really been properly built up. The team members felt separate from one another, and even when the show tells us they came together at the end, it doesn’t feel that way. The group does combine for some fun duel moments of action, but these are far too infrequent to hold much weight. To bring this group back, a lot more individual development needs to happen first.
Every Easter Egg in Marvel’s The Defenders
Netflix miniseries The Defenders has a lot of cool Marvel Easter eggs for fans to discover, and these are some of the best.
When the show did get going, the fighting styles didn’t complement each other. They’re good at fighting, and that’s kind of it. Where the characters felt unique in their own shows, together they were four people who just happened to be fighting the same enemy for their own reasons.The Defenderswas a lot of build-up for very little payoff. The heroes were wrapped up in their own battles, fighting in their own corners, and the small-scale nature of the stories, which worked well when they were on their own, failed to coalesce into anything warranting a team-up.
We Don’t Need ‘The Defenders’ Back in the MCU
The MCU doesn’t really exist in the style of traditional team-ups anymore, at least not in the wayThe Defenderswas created. This isn’tThe Defenders’fault, and given that the show came out close to a decade ago, times have changed.A small-scale teamsuits a smaller medium, like TV. But now, Marvel has spent years bringing movie-quality shows to the small screen, andThe Defenderswouldn’t fit that high CGI-led budget.Even if they were to make a comeback, either separately or together, audiences have moved on. The stakes may have grown, but the landscape and hunger for mediocre superhero content is a lot less than it was when the show came out.
Marvel’s The Defenders Saga in Order: How to Watch Chronologically and by Release Date
The Defenders Saga includes seven combined series and 166 episodes of television. That’s a lot to sort through, so here is the ultimate watch guide.
And in terms of streamlining, something Marvel keeps saying they’re focusing on, even if it doesn’t feel that way,The Defendershas nothing new to offer the franchise. If they’re looking to tie up loose ends, there are far more important ones to pay attention to.At the rate Marvel is going right now, there won’t be enough hands left to juggle everything that would need to be done in order to properly bring these characters back.
What Happens if ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Is a Success?
Bringing Charlie Cox back as Daredevilis a great idea and a warm return to a simpler style of heroism. Cox is amazing in the role, butif the revival works well for Marvel, they shouldn’t assume this gives the green light to dump out anIron FistSeason 3. Marvel can’t seem to work out how to distinguish tones between settings and characters on the big screen or the small one, more often than not reaching for the laugh button in favor of developing the atmosphere.Daredevilis a specific type of show that works in its gritty grays, and the other shows never found their own sense of mood.Luke Cagecame close, but that’s about it.
The Defenderstried to fast-track a team-up adventure, something Marvel has definitely been guilty of since then. The first phase of the MCU worked because they only had one thing to focus on, but now, everything is all over the place, and it doesn’t look like that can change.The Defendersfailed in 2017, and it will fail if reunited todaybecause it only existed as an excuse to replicate the movies, but on TV.
The Marvel Netflix era brought usDaredevil, which is one of the best things the studio has done, but apart from that, these shows will continue to exist as a forgotten footnote. This isn’t entirely the fault of the shows themselves. Maybe it’s Marvel not being as cohesive as we once thought they were.Daredevil: Born Againreleases on Disney+on March 5.The Defendersis streaming onDisney+.
