Considering the fact Marvel has been plotting The Defenders since 2014, you'd think the show's first season would feature more cameos and world building for future shows. In fact, it's surprisingly light on Easter Eggs, a shock when it features four big superheroes and a plethora of other characters.
Of course, that's not to say there are none; they just all happen to be extremely hard to find! It's lucky for you then that we've combed through all eight episodes to track down the biggest Easter Eggs!
It goes without saying that some minor spoilers for the show do follow but nothing that's going to ruin your viewing experience. In fact, you'll want to take a look at this list to find out when and where to keep your eyes peeled for these awesome references and cameos because they're hard to spot...
8. The Original Night Nurse
In the closing moments of The Defenders' final episode, Colleen Wing pays a visit to Misty Knight in hospital to try and make amends for the fact she lost an arm while fighting her former mentor. While the two seemingly form a bond which could pay off somewhere down the line in a Daughters of the Dragon spinoff, it's what's in the background which is arguably the most interesting thing in this scene.
The board detailing Misty's status names the nurse on call as "L. Carter." That's a reference to the original Night Nurse who debuted all the way back in 1961 before she was reintroduced by Brian Michael Bendis as someone who looks after superheroes when they're injured in battle. She went on to have a thing with Doctor Strange but the Sorcerer Supreme's movie used the Christine Palmer version rather than this one.
7. Born Again
Rumour has it that the third season of Daredevil is going to adapt Frank Miller's beloved "Born Again" storyline but it appears as if the Netflix series will tackle it in a very different way. In the comic book, a mentally broken Matt Murdock is savagely beaten by The Kingpin and left for dead in a taxi at the bottom of the East River. After escaping, a badly injured Daredevil stumbles through Hell's Kitchen and is found and cared for by his mother, Sister Maggie.
The final scene of The Defenders features a badly injured Matt and if you listen closely, one of the nuns caring for him says to go and get Maggie, a clear nod to both this storyline and the fact that season three of his show will introduce his mother. It now seems obvious that we're probably getting a loose adaptation of the storyline but this scene perfectly recreates a panel from the comic so you have to give the show credit for that at least!
6. The Dragon
Things get a little confusing in the final couple of episodes of The Defenders. The Hand is after a substance buried deep beneath New York which will give them eternal life as they look to finally return to K'un-Lun. While it sounds like the wall beneath the skyscraper they've built will get them there, it winds up not being a doorway to the mystical city but a graveyard with the bones of a dragon in it.
Danny says that Madame Gao and company are going to desecrate the resting place of Shou-Lao but this probably isn't the exact same dragon he defeated to gain the power of the Iron Fist as the creature has died and returned countless times as a test for those who call themselves the Immortal Iron Fist. Look closely, though, and when the camera pans out to reveal where Danny is you'll notice that the skeleton is laid out in the exact same way as the tattoo on his chest.
5. Stan Lee's Obligatory Cameo
Stan Lee has yet to make a physical appearance in one of these Netflix shows but keeping an eye out for his smiling cop has still become good fun these past few years. Look closely when Matt Murdock is being trailed by Jessica Jones and you'll notice that Smilin' Stan is on a poster to the left of the Man Without Fear. It's a blink and you'll miss it cameo but the beloved comic book creator does make another appearance on a billboard when Jessica is leaving the house belonging to her new client.
That's all I could see of Stan "The Man" Lee and none of the other comic book creators credited in those awesome opening credits make an appearance. In fact, aside from the supporting characters from each of the hero's respective shows, The Defenders is very light on cameos (which seems like a shame when this is the series which finally brings this lot together).
4. Matt And Jessica's First Meeting
The Defenders features a lot of first meetings between superheroes and some of them play out just like the comic books. Just like in the show, Luke Cage and Iron Fist butted heads when they first crossed paths but the coolest Easter Egg here is the fact that the way Luke takes a punch from Danny is shot identically to the way he took a punch from a random thug in his own solo series. However, the difference here is that rather than the fist getting crumpled, it's Luke's face!
It's Matt Murdock and Jessica Jones' first meeting which is most like the source material, though, as he also makes a surprise appearance in the pages of Alias #3 while she's being questioned to tell her not to say anything to the police. Talking of that series, Jessica suggests to Luke that they get coffee somewhere down the line when they part ways and we all know what that means in his mind! It seems romance could be on the cards after all for these two.
3. Misty Knight's Arm
Depending on how well versed you are in Marvel's street level superheroes, there's a chance you may know very little about characters like Colleen Wing and Misty Knight. In the comics, they formed a team known as the Daughters of the Dragon but what is a regular detective doing with a skilled fighter like Colleen? Well, that can be explained by the loss of the character's arm in the finale of The Defenders.
In the source material, she lost that while preventing a bomb attack and it was Iron Man who provided her with a bionic arm which gave her super strength. However, it's clear after watching the show that the advanced hospital owned by Danny Rand is going to give her a new arm. Whether or not it will immediately provide her with powers remains to be seen but The Defenders unexpectedly gave us an origin story for her transformation into a superhero and that's very cool indeed.
2. Wider MCU Connections
"The Incident" is mentioned only once in The Defenders and there's not so much as a single reference to the Sokovia Accords to anything else that's been happening in the Marvel Cinematic Universe lately. We don't even see Avengers Tower in the background so these heroes remain as separate to the rest of this shared world as they have been pretty much from the start.
In terms of nods to the other shows on Netflix, we learn that Mariah Dillard and Shades are still influencing events in Harlem and that Alias Investigations remains closed. Danny, meanwhile, has spent months with Colleen looking for an explanation for K'un-Lun's disappearance but The Hand claims to have nothing to do with that! Matt, on the other hand, seems to have put his differences with Karen and Foggy aside and the latter appears to have come to terms with his best friend's double life by the penultimate episode, something which is long overdue!
1. The Punisher
A brief teaser trailer for The Punisher plays which features random bits of footage from his upcoming solo series along with Frank smashing his own logo into the floor with a sledgehammer for some reason. There's no mention of a premiere date but it is expected to debut a little later this year and it looks like we can definitely expect it to delve into both his history in the military and The Punisher's home life. That should be a whole lot of fun!
Did you guys spot these Easter Eggs in The Defenders? Are there any we've missed? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.