Marvel’s The DefendersNetflixStars: Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, Finn Jones, Sigourney Weaver.Score:★★★

TV REVIEW
By SHIAMAK UNWALLA,
entertainment editor

The partnership between Netflix and Marvel has been a largely productive one so far, with the small-screen version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) beginning with the fantastic first season of Daredevil in 2015.

Since then, we've seen the equally excellent Jessica Jones, the slightly less impressive second season of Daredevil, the decent enough Luke Cage, and the downright disappointing Iron Fist.

Together, however, they become The Defenders.

The Defenders is essentially the small-screen version of the cinematic juggernaught that is The Avengers. Four "street level" superheroes from New York team-up, namely Matt Murdock (Daredevil), Jessica Jones (sometimes known as Jewel, Knightress, or Power Woman), Luke Cage (formerly known as Power Man), and Danny Rand (Iron Fist).

Much like The Avengers, the protagonists must set aside their differences and band together to take on a sinister, shadowy empire of criminal ninjas called The Hand, which is a significant departure from the Defenders of the comics.

The first episode follows each individual character’s journeys from where they left off in their respective series.

Interestingly, there is a clear visual distinction when focusing on each of the four characters. The segments with Daredevil are tinged with red, Jessica Jones with blue/purple, Luke Cage with yellow, and Iron Fist with green.

Matt is coping with the death of his love, Elektra, and is conflicted over whether he will be of more use to his city as a beloved but small-time lawyer, or as the horned vigilante.

Jessica is still drinking her way through what she considers a “crappy” life, brashly dismissing potential clients. When someone threatens her about following through on a case, her interest is sparked.

Luke has served his time and is fresh out of jail. He and his love interest, Claire, finally “get some coffee” in a wild (but still PG) scene reminiscent of his tryst with Jessica. He wants to continue his mission of making Harlem a better place.

Danny and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) are travelling the world trying to find answers about how to defeat The Hand. They realise that they must go back to New York to continue their quest.

The show has many problems. One is that the plot closely follows the events of Iron Fist, which — as mentioned earlier — was a massive let-down.

The Hand has been built up as a massive threat since the first season of Daredevil and their mythology was expanded in Iron Fist. Unfortunately, the shoddy pacing and wafer-thin plot of that series makes The Hand seem pedestrian at best in The Defenders.

Sigourney Weaver is a pop culture legend, and here she plays the main antagonist and mysterious leader of The Hand. Her character initially seems to be an intriguing planner with boundless power, but she is, unfortunately, a Boba Fett of a villain – looks cool but ultimately does nothing .

However, the biggest problem with The Defenders is the lack of intimidating antagonists. Given the Netflix-MCU has produced two of the best comic book villains since Heath Ledger’s iteration of the Joker, David Tennant’s Kilgrave and Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk, the lack of quality villains in the show is staggering.

Madam Gao (Wai Ching Ho) has been a staple of this universe since Daredevil, and continues to be conniving as ever, but she has little impact on the show. Meanwhile, Bakuto (Ramón Rodríguez) is as unmenacing here as he was in Iron Fist.

Even Murakami (Yutaka Takeuchi), who was supposedly the man behind Daredevil’s nemesis Nobu — a character who bested Daredevil in combat more than once — is shown up repeatedly in fist-fights with the relatively unskilled Jessica and Luke.

The show warns the viewers that Sowande (Babs Olusanmokun) would be a threat to even the bulletproof Luke, but he too is swept aside far too easily.

All this makes it seem like the show has no redeeming features whatsoever, but this isn't the case.

Three of the four main characters (Iron Fist being the exception) have solid seasons of character development to fall back on, and it shows in the dynamics between the characters.

The performances, especially by Charlie Cox (Daredevil) and Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones), stand out. Cox is easily, unsurprisingly, the best of the lot. He shows both savagery and restraint in equal measure, and is the natural — if initially unwilling — leader of the team.

Ritter continues where she left off as the snarky, uncouth, but ultimately sensitive Jessica. In a show dominated by male egos, hers is often the voice of reason, even if it is occasionally condescending.

Mike Colter’s Luke Cage is the calm, reliable powerhouse who wants nothing more than to help people. Luke is an initially unwilling participant in his own show, but here he is keen to play a more active role in helping Harlem and, by extension, New York.

The weakest link is Iron Fist (Finn Jones).

The chemistry between the other three characters is palpable, but Jones has little to draw on. He portrays Danny as immature, self-important, and ultimately foolish, which is a sharp contradiction to the savvy, world-wise, good-natured character in the comics. The show would have been much better without him.

Overall, The Defenders is a good show that should have been a great one. It is perhaps on par with Luke Cage, but not nearly as good as Daredevil or Jessica Jones. Make no mistake, it’s a show made principally for comic book fans. If you want high-quality drama, you might want to avoid this.