Netflix Marvel's The Defenders (Spoilers- Please Mark By Episode)

Mihawk

I've seen all of it, and I really enjoyed it. I thought that this really did feel like a giant movie, instead of a series.

fredzilla

On episode 4 and watching the dinner scene. Dang, this is good fun.

fredzilla

"Nice ears."
"They're horns."
"The scarf looked better."

Mr_Cosmic

Watched episode one yesterday and liked it. The change in colors, depending on who's story you were following, was a neat touch.

DAR

It's definitely a step or two above what I saw from Iron Fist(Tbf I never finished that series) But really since Daredevil my overall reaction to these has been

hauberk

DAR said:

It's definitely a step or two above what I saw from Iron Fist(Tbf I never finished that series) But really since Daredevil my overall reaction to these has been

I'm with you. I feel like they hit their highpoint early on and everything else has been a downhill slide. Admittedly, I'm only in the second episode and I was fairly apathetic toward Cage, completely meh toward Iron Fist and found myself routing for the death of everyone except for Nuke and Trish in Jessica Jones, so I may not be the audience for this.

DAR

I thought Cage was great until they killed off Cotton.

I will say one thing I liked very much is I never felt the story dragged out. 8 episodes was perfect for this

Matt

Really like call back to when Rand filled in as Daredevil. Nice red lights for DD too.

I didn't see Alexandra's death coming, and I'm not familiar enough with the Hand to know about "The Fingers," but I really liked the series.

bralinator

Only watched through Episode #2 and enjoying it so far. The DP on this is VERY clever.

Mihawk

Pretty sure the Fingers of the Hand are something they made up for this?

I was surprised that Alexandra died just like that, but also happy Electra took over. Because she was the leader of the Hand for a good while in the comics, even though I believe that Elektra ended up being a Skrull? But still cool.

The ending is definitely setting up the Born Again storyline for season 3 of DD. And I think he is the one that definitely stood out as my favorite, not just character but actor as well. I liked all the other Defenders, but Matt was really good. Loved the "Interrogation scene in Ep5.

Really wished Dany would have had his mask at the end. And I like where their headed with him going forward to Iron Fist S2. We should be completely done with the Hand now? And now he'll be that street level Hero, trying to do what DD did.

Really hope Luke and Dany have more crossovers happening. I thought that they had really good chemistry.

I see Jessica Jones series is getting some hate, I really liked that series except for the Lesbian love triangle sub plot. That part just didn't add anything at all to the story. But Purple Man was fantastic. And I'm interested to see how they move forward without that character around.

Now looking forward to the Punisher.

Matt

Mihawk said:

Pretty sure the Fingers of the Hand are something they made up for this?

I was surprised that Alexandra died just like that, but also happy Electra took over. Because she was the leader of the Hand for a good while in the comics, even though I believe that Elektra ended up being a Skrull? But still cool.

The ending is definitely setting up the Born Again storyline for season 3 of DD. And I think he is the one that definitely stood out as my favorite, not just character but actor as well. I liked all the other Defenders, but Matt was really good. Loved the "Interrogation scene in Ep5.

Really wished Dany would have had his mask at the end. And I like where their headed with him going forward to Iron Fist S2. We should be completely done with the Hand now? And now he'll be that street level Hero, trying to do what DD did.

Really hope Luke and Dany have more crossovers happening. I thought that they had really good chemistry.

I see Jessica Jones series is getting some hate, I really liked that series except for the Lesbian love triangle sub plot. That part just didn't add anything at all to the story. But Purple Man was fantastic. And I'm interested to see how they move forward without that character around.

Now looking forward to the Punisher.

It's been a long time since I watched the Jessica Jones series. What lesbian love triangle? I also don't recall the series getting a lot of hate. Actually, I recall it getting praised.

hauberk

Matt said:

Mihawk said:

Pretty sure the Fingers of the Hand are something they made up for this?

I was surprised that Alexandra died just like that, but also happy Electra took over. Because she was the leader of the Hand for a good while in the comics, even though I believe that Elektra ended up being a Skrull? But still cool.

The ending is definitely setting up the Born Again storyline for season 3 of DD. And I think he is the one that definitely stood out as my favorite, not just character but actor as well. I liked all the other Defenders, but Matt was really good. Loved the "Interrogation scene in Ep5.

Really wished Dany would have had his mask at the end. And I like where their headed with him going forward to Iron Fist S2. We should be completely done with the Hand now? And now he'll be that street level Hero, trying to do what DD did.

Really hope Luke and Dany have more crossovers happening. I thought that they had really good chemistry.

I see Jessica Jones series is getting some hate, I really liked that series except for the Lesbian love triangle sub plot. That part just didn't add anything at all to the story. But Purple Man was fantastic. And I'm interested to see how they move forward without that character around.

Now looking forward to the Punisher.

It's been a long time since I watched the Jessica Jones series. What lesbian love triangle? I also don't recall the series getting a lot of hate. Actually, I recall it getting praised.

Jeri Hogarth, her SO and a secretary at the firm.

I'm part of the dislike. I thought that Purple Man was a fantastically creepy villain. The problem that I had was that as compelling as he was to root against, there just wasn't anyone that I wanted to root for.

The scene in the restaurant with all of the guests standing on the bar? I was rooting for the sprinkler pipe to hold... largely because the annoying neighbor was present, but still.

That said, I can't say that I disliked the performances, just the characters.

bralinator

Matt said:

It's been a long time since I watched the Jessica Jones series. What lesbian love triangle? I also don't recall the series getting a lot of hate. Actually, I recall it getting praised.

I think @Mihawk is referring to Hogarth cheating on her wife with the assistant. (reference). As for the "hate" Jessica Jones got, I was put off by it because NO one in the series was very likable, at all in fact. It was just too dreary for my tastes (reference). But I think, on the whole, it was well received in these forums and abroad.

hauberk

I will say this for it:

Action is good.

Scott Glenn (Stick) continues to be awesome. I've enjoyed everything I've seen him in going back to The Right Stuff.

Matt

hauberk said:

Matt said:

Mihawk said:

Pretty sure the Fingers of the Hand are something they made up for this?

I was surprised that Alexandra died just like that, but also happy Electra took over. Because she was the leader of the Hand for a good while in the comics, even though I believe that Elektra ended up being a Skrull? But still cool.

The ending is definitely setting up the Born Again storyline for season 3 of DD. And I think he is the one that definitely stood out as my favorite, not just character but actor as well. I liked all the other Defenders, but Matt was really good. Loved the "Interrogation scene in Ep5.

Really wished Dany would have had his mask at the end. And I like where their headed with him going forward to Iron Fist S2. We should be completely done with the Hand now? And now he'll be that street level Hero, trying to do what DD did.

Really hope Luke and Dany have more crossovers happening. I thought that they had really good chemistry.

I see Jessica Jones series is getting some hate, I really liked that series except for the Lesbian love triangle sub plot. That part just didn't add anything at all to the story. But Purple Man was fantastic. And I'm interested to see how they move forward without that character around.

Now looking forward to the Punisher.

It's been a long time since I watched the Jessica Jones series. What lesbian love triangle? I also don't recall the series getting a lot of hate. Actually, I recall it getting praised.

Jeri Hogarth, her SO and a secretary at the firm.

I'm part of the dislike. I thought that Purple Man was a fantastically creepy villain. The problem that I had was that as compelling as he was to root against, there just wasn't anyone that I wanted to root for.

The scene in the restaurant with all of the guests standing on the bar? I was rooting for the sprinkler pipe to hold... largely because the annoying neighbor was present, but still.

That said, I can't say that I disliked the performances, just the characters.

That's right. I forgot about those characters, except Hogarth...and that her paralegal was a smoke show. The only reason I remember Hogarth is because she's appeared in the other shows.

I was rooting for Malcolm. And to some extent, Trish.

Matt

I'm reading some of the reviews for series. One noted the actors enjoying the "you're privileged" scene. Didn't Danny disappear at a young age & only back for about a month or two? Has he really gotten that privileged? Especially since he's been global hopping looking to stop the Hand?

bralinator

He's wealthy and white, that's all that matters @Matt.

batlaw

I enjoyed it. It was ok. Better than either Luke cage or iron fist IMO but I enjoyed both DD seasons and JJ more ultimately. These shows and their formula are just getting old quick to me. I get the lack of budget is mostly to bkame but it's losing luster quick either way. The writing and effects were pretty weak here and there on defenders. The short episode number sucked but at the same time helped. As a result the show didn't have the awkward filler or super slow episodes line the others. it helped make the writing better / more tolerable. Still, so much time is filled with lifeless banter or characters "posturing" and talking in circles.

The weakest and worst moment for me was easily the "white privilege" scene. That was nauseating and just stupid.
Stick was awesome.
JJ seemed neglected.
Danny fought much better and was more believable here.
Electra was all over the place.
Loved weaver. Hated seeing her wasted / killed off so unceremoniously.
All I can think of for now.

Mihawk

Yeah it definitely seemed like they had the DD fighting coordinator. Or at least someone a lot better than Iron Fist.

I think it's becoming more and more clear that they rushed everything with Iron Fist, so they could get to Defenders.

I think Finn did a interview where he said he was learning the Choreography for the fight scenes the day they where shooting it? So clearly they rushed it out the door.

bralinator

Mihawk said:

Yeah it definitely seemed like they had the DD fighting coordinator. Or at least someone a lot better than Iron Fist.

I think it's becoming more and more clear that they rushed everything with Iron Fist, so they could get to Defenders.

I think Finn did a interview where he said he was learning the Choreography for the fight scenes the day they where shooting it? So clearly they rushed it out the door.

I agree. At the end of Episode 3 when Danny went to visit the CEOs of Midland Circle Financial, the fight choreography, you could tell the choreography and Finn had completely upped their game. I'm not finished with the series, but I think each episode gets better than the previous one.

As for Finn, I like him when he has Cage to balance him. Danny's brash, naive, idealist act works best when he is teamed with a streetwise bullet proof hood with swagger like Luke who just won't take himself too seriously.

This series can't have much higher of a budget than 23 episodes of SHIELD. And I think SHIELD would be greatly improved by only cranking out an 8 episode series so they could put more money into each episode. Of course that model doesn't work on network television because they need to sell ad-space and 23 episodes with commercials is a lot more real estate than 8 episodes with commercials.

Oh well. Make mine Netflix.

alienal

FINISHED THE SERIES: as for the "privilege" comments. I think they were just basing their comments on whatever they had read in the newspapers about Danny (the white kid who suddenly reappears and gets 51% of a big corporation) Rand coming back, not on anything he had done since then. Anyway, yeah despite reading some negative reviews on imdb, I still really enjoyed the series. I think it depends on "where you're at." Some people hate on "it" (or all Netflix Marvel series in general) because of the fight scenes, some people don't like the acting, some think the story is boring, some don't like the uneven pacing, and other such complaints. Well, I really loved this short 8 episode series, mostly because I just enjoyed seeing ALL of the series lead characters and their friends interacting and their stories intersecting. The only time I thought it lagged was when they were in the Royal Dragon, but even then I thought it was necessary that they needed to talk things out. I also thought the last episode was a little padded (Elektra and Matt just taking swings at other for what seemed like 10 minutes?), but overall I liked the ending (s). It should be interesting to see if there is a little crossover effect in all of the upcoming series. I mean they all know each other now, so they could run into each other coincidentally. New York doesn't seem to be that big. The way it's ended, I could even see a couple of the characters making little cameos in the Punisher if need be. Is the stuff with the Hand done? I'm not sure, I mean if Murdock could make it out of that rubble, surely sneaky Madame Gao could. Oh, and I'm really curious to see if they'll be using Stark or SHIELD tech or something else to replace Misty's arm.

Mr_Cosmic

Two seasons of Dare Devil, Jessica Jones, Cage, Iron Fist, and now finally Defenders I think the Marvel/Netflix thing has been mediocre. Personally, I've really enjoyed Dare Devil but the other shows have been "meh" to "just ok." This Defenders show was fine but I have to admit it wasn't anywhere near what I was expecting when I first found out about this Marvel/Netflix plan years ago.

WetRats

I enjoyed it.

The character interactions were lots of fun.

Still not very keen on this version of Danny Rand.

The Hand's plot made ZERO SENSE. Why were they gonna destroy New York?

Ready for the Daughters of the Dragon (plus Patsy/Hellcat and Claire/White Tiger)

hauberk

Finished it. The back half was far superior to the front.

Liked the interpretation of Elektra's costume.

Continue to love their iteration of the DD suit.

Continue to dislike Jessica Jones.

bralinator

It finally warmed up by the end of episode 3. I enjoyed it and there were many "WOW!" moments for me throughout the last half. It was still a bit slow and low-budget at times, but the production work was very good and the acting was very good. I don't think we're supposed to like 'Danny Rand' at all :)

Anxious to see what's coming next.

A preview of Luke Cage Season 2 below. Wonder who/what is the source of the replacement arm?

Matt

Watching it again, the fighting choreography s head & shoulders about Iron Fist's. In addition to replacing the showrunner, I hope the choreographer gets replaced too.

If Matt inspired Danny enough, season 2 will be a perfect point to don a mask. Especially since he saw the look of the makeshift mask Matt wore during their initial meeting.

I'm going to miss Bakuto. What a great villain. The actor is very good.

Mihawk

It's just very clear they rushed Iron Fist as fast as they could so they could make Defenders. Finn said he had been learning the Martial Arts for a couple of weeks before shooting, and they had no time to practice the choreography.

In Defenders he said he had about a year of Martial Arts practice, and didn't have to shoot the Choreography the day he learned it. And you can absolutely see that in the performance.

I do think they did miss an opportunity at the end to already of having him in his mask. He already looked like Matt, and him having a mask like S1 Daredevil would have been cool.

I think the problem they are having is that it's yellow? I'd actually be OK with a darker mask if he'd just get one?

I'm think 3 of the 4 have a good road ahead of them, except with Jessica Jones, because Purple Man was such a huge part of that show, I just don't no where they go from here with that character?

Writing stories for DD is much easier because of all the history and thousands of stories he has, the same with Iron Fist and Cage to a lesser degree. But Jessica just doesn't have an unlimited supply of source material they can pull from, so it has to be more difficult for them to write her.

jaydee74

I enjoyed the series. I think the first episode was a nice jumping on point to tell us what the characters were up to. I found myself mostly interested in Daredevil as I just thought his arc was more interesting where they are treating the costume like a drug for Matt and I thought that was very cool. Luke and Jessica were also great in this but I feel they were mostly there for the ride since they have no connection to The Hand until now. Danny Rand. I don't dislike him. I feel that they are writing Danny in a way that reminds me of Luke Skywalker in Empire Strikes Back. He's got abilities but he lacks the control to really use them and he's impatient and as everyone stated about a million times, he needs to calm down.

I thought Sigourney Weaver's character was wasted for not having her in the entire series. I understand the point where they needed to elevate Elektra but I wish they could have found another way to do it without getting rid of Alexandra. The fight scenes were great and I liked the overall story. I don't know about anyone else but did The Hand seemed kind of...neutered? They didn't feel as threatening as they did in season two of Daredevil or even Iron Fist. Overall though I enjoyed it. Loved the ending with Matt and Elektra and all the character's ending. They seemed to evolve which makes me interested in their upcoming seasons. Especially Iron Fist. I kind of wish they didn't show that ending season with Daredevil but I understand that they wanted that "Born Again" scene. It was good.

Matt

jaydee74 said:

I enjoyed the series. I think the first episode was a nice jumping on point to tell us what the characters were up to. I found myself mostly interested in Daredevil as I just thought his arc was more interesting where they are treating the costume like a drug for Matt and I thought that was very cool. Luke and Jessica were also great in this but I feel they were mostly there for the ride since they have no connection to The Hand until now. Danny Rand. I don't dislike him. I feel that they are writing Danny in a way that reminds me of Luke Skywalker in Empire Strikes Back. He's got abilities but he lacks the control to really use them and he's impatient and as everyone stated about a million times, he needs to calm down.

I thought Sigourney Weaver's character was wasted for not having her in the entire series. I understand the point where they needed to elevate Elektra but I wish they could have found another way to do it without getting rid of Alexandra. The fight scenes were great and I liked the overall story. I don't know about anyone else but did The Hand seemed kind of...neutered? They didn't feel as threatening as they did in season two of Daredevil or even Iron Fist. Overall though I enjoyed it. Loved the ending with Matt and Elektra and all the character's ending. They seemed to evolve which makes me interested in their upcoming seasons. Especially Iron Fist. I kind of wish they didn't show that ending season with Daredevil but I understand that they wanted that "Born Again" scene. It was good.

I can see how the Hand felt neutered. They seemed more like gangs instead of an actual organization.

I recall watching this scene in DD S2 & thinking "holy shit, they're like an army attacking this hospital."

https://youtu.be/P0QgMCw4M8c

Or in this scene (one of my favorites) where they altered their methods to confuse DD.

https://youtu.be/i1iTz5TO1O0

I never thought they were an unstoppable legion (aside from the fingers) in Defenders.

Mihawk

I watched DD S2 recently, and they absolutely changed the origin of the Hand from that season to Defenders. In DD they where a group originating from I think China? But in Defenders their origin is the 5 fingers went to their own homelands and "ruled".

So I think the case is they just simply hadn't come up with the idea for Fingers of the Hand in DD S2. And Nobu, Stick said he was revered like the God/Messiah of the Hand, but in Defenders he really was basically a henchmen.

So yeah they just clearly hadn't worked out all the details about them when they did DD S2.


And I think Hand being Neutered thing is the reason why they came up with the Fingers of the Hand? Because The Hand threatening when there all fighting one guy, but when their up against 4 people that all have powers and abilities their just not that threatening anymore.

So the show runners where like "Hey let's have 5 Ra's Al Ghul's" and that's what they did.

And I think they could have made the Fingers more powerful, madame Gou had her force push, and the one who fought Cage in the restaurant, he seemed have either strength or Chi punches? Because he was pushing Luke back?

But other than that, the rest of them just seemed like they where normal people who had been alive forever.

aquatroy

I'm about 3/4 of the way through. I think they could have replaced Finn Jones with this guy



and the show wouldn't miss a beat.