Making their debut in Hall H for the first time, Netflix and Marvel knew they would have to go big or go home. So, even though the debuted footage from The Punisher and confirmed that Iron Fist and Luke Cage would be getting second seasons alongside the already announced third and second runs for Daredevil and Jessica Jones, respectively, Jeph Loeb and the cast of The Defenders decided to treat the packed room by premiering a clip that Loeb teased as being the exact length of the first episode of the show. So, now that six thousand people have gotten the chance to see the first chapter of the highly touted crossover, we can give you are impression: it is really good.
Netflix and Marvel have done a great job of building their street level superheroes with each of the four shows having a distinct visual look and style while maintaining the theme that these are grittier defenders of New York and not your Avengers-type superheroes. During the panel presentation, there were several jabs at the big screen MCU and how unlike that side of the cinematic universe The Defenders will be. The first episode doesn't have any knock down amazing action sequences in it but it definitely opens up the story to unite these disparate characters for the first time. Over the first chapter, none of our heroes meet each other. The narrative is broken into several segments, each feeling like the individual series: Daredevil has a lot of swing cuts, Luke Cage is musically driven, Jessica Jones has a noir feel, and Iron Fist is a bit more pulpy.
Picking up several months after the end of Iron Fist, our main characters are at different points in their lives. Danny and Colleen Wing are hunting the Hand in Cambodia when they come across a masked warrior who is faster than anyone they have fought before. The contact they were meeting dies at the warrior's hands but is able to tell Danny and Colleen they need to get back to New York. Luke Cage gets released from Seagate after exonerating himself (with some help from Foggy Nelson who now works for Jeri Hogarth). Luke returns to Harlem where he and Claire Temple have some rough sex. Misty Knight then shows up and gets Luke to be the Hero of Harlem once again. Jessica Jones is still avoiding work after she took down Kilgrave but takes what seems to be a cheating spouse case but one that turns into much more. Matt Murdock is back to taking pro bono work and has given up being Daredevil, but he still feels the draw to being a vigilante and doing more than trying court cases.
We also get our first look at Sigourney Weaver as the big baddie, Alexandra. It is still unclear who she may be inspired by from the comics but it is made definitive that she is an authority who presides higher than Madame Gao and The Hand. By the end of the episode, Alexandra's fate has been made expressly clear and she puts into action a catastrophic attack on New York City that could be the event that Wilson Fisk and Harold Meachum have been involved with on Iron Fist and Daredevil. Needless to say, the end of this hour finds all four heroes experiencing the same earthquake like attack and wondering what comes next. We also see that the formidable warrior from the opening scene was none other than Elektra who is now an amnesiac being controlled by Alexandra and The Hand.
Overall, this episode was just a taste of what is to come. Unlike THE AVENGERS where the team were forced together and had to endure the death of Agent Coulson to become a unified force, The Defenders is taking a different approach that plays to each character (and actor's) strengths. During the panel, Mike Colter pointed out that the cast connected both on screen and off which helped their chemistry. It is not yet apparent in the first episode if that is true, but you can check out the brand new trailer that debuted after the screening in the embed above to get a better taste of what is coming our way. All of your favorite supporting characters are back and this looks to be a true battle for New York City that we have not seen yet. We will certainly be back to bring you reviews of the rest of The Defenders season but for now we can assure you that if you have dedicated yourself to the individual shows so far, you will be very happy with what comes next
The Defenders debuts all eight episodes on Netflix beginning August 18th.