There can be no doubt that Marvel had a hit on its hands when they released Daredevil Season 1 last spring on the Netflix subscription service. It was only the beginning of a darker and edgier journey for viewers into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and this will continue with the release of Jessica Jones this November. After Season 1 of Jessica Jones will a spin-off series with the character Luke Cage. Then there will be a sibling series of Iron Fist, who is often a partner to Luke Cage from the comics. This is all leading up to the Defenders series, and this is what it could be about.
When Marvel released the Avengers into the theaters, it was a risk that paid off. The idea was to release movies about their popular characters like Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and Captain America, and then put them in a single film. It was a film formula derived from a comic book formula, and Marvel is attempting to strike gold with the Defenders. However, what are Netflix's individual series Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist leading up to in The Defenders?
There has been a lot of talk with soon-to-be released series like Daredevil's Season 2. Once it was heard that the Punisher (Jon Bernthal) would be showing up, there was talk that the show would go in an even darker direction as Daredevil (Charlie Cox) would meet someone who could take justice too far. The Punisher in the comics kills his enemies, which is a line that Daredevil didn't cross in Season 1. The introduction of another fan-favorite character of Elektra (Elodie Yung) also has a loose moral code when it comes to killing. It would appear that Daredevil will have his hands full in Season 2 when he returns in the spring of 2016 (see trailer below), but could the crossovers with the Defenders continue?
These crossovers would begin on Jessica Jones. If you are not aware, Jessica Jones is essentially a superhero who has "been there, done that", and has abandoned the mask and costume or a private eye persona. Krysten Ritter will play the titular character who still has some augmented strength super-powers, and is being stalked by Kilgrave (David Tennant), a man with powerful mind control powers. This show premieres on November 20, 2015, and there is also a trailer below.
Jessica Jones is apparently dating Luke Cage (Mike Colter), who also has super-strength and eventually his own Luke Cage show that is presently filming now to premiere later in 2016. Luke Cage is a character who is more famous for dealing with justice on the city streets rather than saving the world from a super-villain, and it is possible that Jessica Jones could be making appearances on his show, along with Daredevil.
This leads to the one show that very little is known about, Iron Fist, coming sometime in late 2016. This hero is known for his martial arts fighting styles along with some mystic inspiration, and it is not known if the Defenders universe wants to go in this direction. So far, this Netflix universe of Defenders is attempting to stay a bit more grounded than the Avengers one, and it could easily go too far by introducing someone like Loki or Ultron into the fold.
This leads to what kind of foe the Defenders will fight, when they finally get together on their own series, movie, or whatever Netflix has planned. It is possible that there will some build-up to this series, or like Avengers, a villain could just be picked from either hero's shows. The Defenders wouldn't go up against someone like Loki, but it would probably be some crime boss who wants to take out all the heroes so he can have his or her turf. One good choice would be The Kingpin, and since Wilson Fisk was alive at the end of Season 1, he could easily begin to assemble a lot of bad guys to take out the heroes fighting in the streets.
What would you like to see in Netflix's Defenders series? Leave a comment below, as fans' wishes often have a way of coming true with Marvel's films.
