A Spoiler Free Look At "The Defenders"

The Defenders (2017)

TV-MA

Starring Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, Finn Jones, Elodie Yung, Jessica Henwick, Scott Glenn, Simone Missick, Eldon Henson, Wai Ching Ho, Rosario Dawson,

Created by Douglas Petrie & Marco Ramirez

The Story:

The Hand has used the last of their mysterious life restoring energy to resurrect Elektra from the dead. With her leading the charge, their goal is to retrieve the Iron Fist to unlock an ancient door and give The Hand the ultimate power. The downside, opening that door will cause the total destruction of New York City. Looks like the heroes of New York will need to band together and save the day.

Now that is more like it.

8 episodes.

Very little drag to them at all.

Not as much time for redundancy and stalling as the tale needs to be told and finished with far fewer episodes than the Netflix series have previously enjoyed.

And it shows.

The first 2 episodes cut back and forth between Jessica Jones (Ritter), Luke Cage (Colter), Daredevil (Cox) and Iron Fist (Jones) and the members of their supporting cast who will be seen briefly in The Defenders.

I would argue if you've not seen, or didn't care for certain characters, this is the show for you that will give them a chance to shine and change your opinion on them.

The weak link is still Iron Fist, but the show acknowledges that, and actually spotlights that this is kind of the point.

He's still "a kid" in theory. He's learning the ropes as a superhero who has been handed a ton of responsibility in life and realizes he's already failed at just about everything he was born to do.

Everything wraps up fairly nicely and sends the heroes back to their own shows, ready to hit the ground running.

There are also a few surprises and changes for some characters along the way as well.

Finally, once you've completed episode 8, stick around after the credits for a trailer for Marvel's next Netflix Original.

Final Grade: A-

Sweet Christmas! "Luke Cage"

Luke Cage (2016)

TV-MA

Starring Mike Colter, Simone Missick, Theo Rossi, Alfre Woodard, Rosario Dawson, Erik LaRay Harvey, Mahershala Ali, Frank Whaley, Frankie Faison,

Created by Cheo Hodari Coker

The Story:

Luke Cage (Colter) is minding his own business in Harlem at Pop's (Faison) Barbershop. However, fate has other plans in store for Mr. Cage and when tragedy strikes, it's time for Harlem's Hero to take care of business, by any means necessary.

I won't go into much more specifics of characters, as that gives away entirely too much to the storyline.

I will say this:

1) We get Luke Cage's origin story
2) We see, ever so briefly, Cage's original costume.
3) Claire (Dawson) helps tie this series to Daredevil and Jessica Jones

However, in typical Netflix/Marvel fashion, my usual complaint still exists:

They tell a wonderful 8-10 episodes...over the course of 13 episodes. : /

I found the first 2 episodes to be especially slow-paced, but things pick up in the 3rd, especially with the introduction of a rocket launcher.

;)

Now that Luke Cage realizes how awesomely indestructible he is, hopefully he will also be a little less mopey.

Seems if he would have just heroed up on at least 2 different occasions, he could have spared himself, and Harlem, a lot of grief and heartache.

Of course, that also helps build the character of the hero, by having to get through the hard times.

The show is also packed with quite an interesting array of characters on both sides of the law.

However, Marvel would be wise, in both movies and television, to stop killing everyone so darn fast.

I'm just saying...

Finally, I liked the villain of the first half of the season much more than the one in the last half of the season. Personality. Charisma. Hard to say.

That we will not see more of him, and the other guy will be back in the future, is disappointing.

Also, I guess there was a third entity that Luke Cage tackled head on.

The "N Word".

Loved it.

If it's such a horrible word, everyone should take Cage's stance on using it or having it used on them.

Regardless of the color of skin of the character saying it.

Currently streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: Solid B