Marvel's THE DEFENDERS Season 1 Review; "It Could And Should Have Been So Much Better"
The first season of The Defenders is now on Netflix but is the show we've all been waiting years for actually any good? The answer is somewhere in the middle and you can find a spoiler-free review here...
We've been waiting for The Defenders ever since Marvel and Netflix announced that Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist were coming to the online streaming service. As time passed, it became clear that there was no real plan in place for the four heroes but this team-up still manages to satisfy...to a certain extent. While seeing these characters meet is a treat, The Hand - who have received a significant amount of screentime over the past few years - wind up being a huge disappointment, as is their plan. Yes, Sigourney Weaver is a delight to watch but her allies in The Hand are a bore and a last-minute twist involving her and Elektra proves to be more baffling than shocking. It's a shame that this underwhelming clash is what Marvel has been building up to all this time and there's now no denying the fact that these shows have failed to capitalise on the comic book villains and I for one am hoping we never have to see The Hand again. The potential for them to be great has been squandered and it's now probably best to just move on and forget they ever existed.
The lead cast members do, at least, deliver. Krysten Ritter arguably steals the show as Jessica, while Charlie Cox and Mike Colter both shine as Matt and Luke. Finn Jones, meanwhile, finally gets the chance to deliver as Danny Rand and is written here vastly better than he was in own series. He's finally confident in the use of his powers and far more likeable as a result. The supporting cast doesn't fare too well, though, as they're here for obligatory cameos/crossovers and wind up spending most of their time in a waiting room. Don't get me wrong, I'm massively relieved not to spend another season of TV with amateur journalist Karen Page but no one's stories are really moved forward here (including the four leads). That can partly be blamed on this being a fairly self-contained adventure and the fact it takes place over a matter of days but these characters still feel cut off from the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe and you shouldn't go into The Defenders expecting an awful lot of setup for the future as it's clear Marvel's TV department don't have the same level of forethought as Marvel Studios.
On the plus side, there are a lot of great twists and turns and the first six episodes are very strong. Seven and eight aren't bad but things start going downhill and it's ultimately the action which saves the show in those. That's brilliant from start to finish and Iron Fist in particular really benefits as his powers are finally allowed to impress and the Fist is no longer used sparingly and then needs half a day to charge back up. Seeing these heroes fighting side by side is awesome and while it would have been nice to further explore Jessica's powers, the team definitely looks good when they're in action. The Defenders is by no means a bad show and is overall very good. It's not quite up there with Daredevil and Jessica Jones' first seasons but it still does an effective enough job of bringing these heroes together for a team up which is a lot of fun and will leave you anxious for more adventures like this somewhere down the line. It's just a shame that it probably won't have a lasting impact on you and it would have been good to see these great comic book characters get a better story to work with.
With any luck, the next time these heroes come together, they'll have a better villain to face and a stronger story. Despite those failings, The Defenders still delivers an enjoyable team up for these characters but it's clear it should have been better.
