Marvel's Defenders (Netflix)

Sparko

I enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away. Definitely a letdown based on how much I was looking forward to it.

Danny was less annoying than he was in his own series but his character still seems all over the place and not as well defined as the others.

Re: Iron Fist and his involvement in the last two eps

Serious eye rolling moment after Elektra brings him below the building and spells out why the Hand need him and then he proceeds to summon the fist and start swinging wildly near the wall, fairly clear what was going to happen next!

gandalf

I enjoyed it but not as much as Daredevil, Luke Cage or my favourite of the series Jessica Jones. Iron Fist is the weak link of the series and his character is in the Defenders as well.

I was disappointed with the length of the series as they didn't really develop Sigourney Weavers backstory enough

or the other members of the hand. So when she got dispatched I just went meh.

Episode six was the highlight of the series, the last two dragged. I didn't realise there was a punisher bit after the end credits so I'll check that out.

pixelburp

I've only watched the first two episodes & I'm not sure: it's much, MUCH better paced than any of the other Marvel shows, and I suspect that's because it simply has more characters with better agency and purpose than the often-dawdling 'solo' shows. I'm still not sold on The Hand as villains; they're about as ill defined & nebulous as ever.

All the Defenders themselves seem OK, but very much little sketch versions of their defining traits: Daredevil as self-flagellating as ever, and I'd forgotten just how annoying Jessica Jones' "I'm such a disaster zone, leave me be" schtick can be. Luke Cage is the most prominently ... different portrayal; I dunno, there's absolutely none of the swagger and charm that was present in spades during his own series.
Iron Fist is still the weak link and if anything being surrounded by better & more charismatic people just further highlights what a whiny, miserable wretch he is.

Finished it yesterday. As expected, Iron Fist is the weakest of the lot. He still just came across as a bratty child.

Bandana boy

Iron Fist is a knob -

Stick had the right idea in trying to chop his head off - I mean for a guy who supposedly meditates and centers himself all the time , he keeps losing his rag and doing what the enemy want him to do , he also fell out with the rest because they asked him to calmly talk about maybe not go out and fight the hand when they need to capture him

pixelburp

Probably noticed by everyone else already, but I really liked how the show worked in the primary colour scheme of each character's series into their solo scenes: lots of red splashes for Murdoch, deep blues everywhere for Jessica, yellows for Luke Cage; equally smart is when those characters first meet and the respective colour schemes creep into each others', reds appearing around the room when Murdoch walks into Jessica's otherwise blue painted interrogation room.

Greyjoy

I enjoyed the interplay of the 4 heroes but the series overall disappointed me. The Hand were very underwhelming villains and their big plot to 'destroy' the city amounted to nothing.

Venom

Just finished episode 8 and have to agree with most posters on just how meh this show was. I honestly found the last two episodes a real chore to get through.

Finn Jones is acted off the screen by everyone else in the show and the Iron Fist character is just awful.

Mickeroo

I enjoyed it overall but found it ran out steam towards the end. Have found it with nearly all the Netflix marvel shows that they reach crescendo around the third to last episode and then the last two episodes tend to just fizzle out. For all the building up of the hand over the other shows the final battle was pretty underwhelming.


Still it was enjoyable for the interaction between the heroes and was streets ahead of iron Fist(whom I felt was a major weak link here).

pixelburp

Yeah, it's a weird one; and if the shows don't run out of steam they go off into a wild tangent. Luke Cage was pottering along nicely & when Diamondback appeared, the whole status quo pivoted, the show then going wildly off course.

Ultimately the Netflix shows share a flaw with the film series & that's in their antagonists. Sigourney Weaver does her level best but The Hand just aren't threatening or particularly tangible as an enemy, merely an unrelatable mish-mash of ill-defined mystical nonsense. I'm only on Episode 4 of The Defenders but I sincerely hope their arc is tied up & dropped off a pier by the series' end.

pixelburp

Finished this off today and yeah, it definitely fizzles out by about episode 5; as before the biggest flaw is The Hand and its wishy-washy evilness that continued to be intentionally, and frustratingly, ambiguous. It's obviously an attempt to maintain mystery by withholding from the audience, but when they couldn't even bring themselves to properly explain

The Substance, the uhh, substance, that gives them all eternal life to a newcomer,

you know the writers are just over-reaching in keeping The Hand utterly unrelatable by way of mystery.

Anyway, it wasn't all bad; I really hope we see more crossovers now because the titular Defenders gelled really well. I wasn't expecting it, but Jessica & Matt worked well against each other, even betraying a smidgen of chemistry here & there; and Daredevil's po-faced seriousness could do with some snark. And I can't be the only one who really wants Luke & Danny to team up during their 'solo' runs. Speaking of Danny, the show managed to redeem him somewhat; he's still a total plonker, but by the last episode's end his character got a much needed polish & shine.

All in all, I hope The Defender is the capper to The Hand as adversaries in the Netflix Marvel universe: their story feels done,

Electra's

too & they just never worked for me in any case; either being too intangible, or not fully committed to any sci-fi premise to feel part of the MCU.