The Defenders (2017-Present)

The the Netflix branch of the MCU has now had their years-in-the-making team-up event, their own street-level version of The Avengers (does this mean The Defenders marks the end of the Netflix MCU’s Phase One?)  Overall, while I don’t think it’s as good as I would have wanted it to be, it does have a lot of good stuff going for it.  It brings the great elements of some of the previous series and smooths over a few of the rough edges of others, even if, in the end, it feels like the sum of its parts is a little greater than the whole.

Half of this quartet on the brink of converging – Matt and Danny – have already tangled with the Hand and experienced harsh losses, but The Defenders kick off with events that put the ancient, shadowy organization on our other two heroes’ radars.  Luke picks up the scent when the group starts recruiting young Harlem men for a bit of dirty work, and a missing-persons investigation gets Jessica on their trail.  When these four very different heroes come together, they’re even more averse to the idea of working together than the Avengers are in their first film, but with the fate of New York hanging in the balance, they realize the only thing they can do is stand together and fight.

I like most of these heroes a lot (more on Iron Fist in a moment,) and the interactions between them offer some of the best moments of the season – the snark, the comments on one another’s powers, the arguing over strategy, and the interesting dynamic that’s added by Matt being the only one of the four with a full-fledged secret identity.  I also appreciate that each one comes into the series with a few of their supporting characters in tow as well.  On that front, some of them don’t get as much to do, which is understandable given the limited number of episodes, but everyone at least gets in one or two good moments.  And can I just say?  I think my biggest takeaway from this season is how ready I am for more Jessica Jones.

Iron Fist works slightly better for me within the context of the group.  It’s hard to find him credulous as the anchor of his own show, but here, he functions more like an obscenely-wealthy, annoying kid brother that the other three enjoy messing with.  Also, Finn Jones definitely looks better in the fight scenes.  I don’t know what the ratio is between more training, better choreography, and better-integrated stunt men, but there’s a clear improvement.  While I still don’t buy him as a superhero who mostly gets by on his mindblowing kung fu skills (since his actual superpower is only used sparingly,) it’s a step in the right direction.

It’s the overall plot where things get a little muddy.  For me, the franchise has had diminishing returns on the Hand, and while the aspect of them that’s presented here is interesting and involves some strong actors, it falls apart a little in the execution.  For such dangerous villains, they do a lot of standing around talking about their evil plan while they send faceless lackeys after the Defenders.  The combination of the heroes is fun enough to make me interested in seeing more collaborations, but I hope their next team-up features a tighter story.

Warnings

Strong comic-book violence, swearing, drinking, and thematic elements.