The Defenders The Defenders Discussion Thread (NO SPOILER TAGS NECESSARY!)

[MahvelBaby!]

Really enjoyed the series, much better than Iron Fist which I felt wasn't as bad as others say, but as an interpretation of the character it was super low rent.

 

[MahvelBaby!]

Yeah. But they gave Cottonmouth an inner look at his beginnings what drove him to power and lead him to where he was at the moment of his death. They showed in flashbacks... those performances really fleshed out his backstory. It gave me an understanding to the character that couldn't have been expressed in a conversation no matter how powerful the actors delivered them.

With Alexandra everything was given in expositions and subtle references. But hers or others' words mean little as they don't always say what they mean or tell the truth. At her death, I felt the same way as her introduction... interesting but a bit underwhelming.

Killing Cottonmouth was such a BAAAAD choice, the series never recovered for me after that.

 

[Tony Stark]

Killing Cottonmouth was such a BAAAAD choice, the series never recovered for me after that.

Agreed, he was a great bad guy. Diamond back was pretty cringe worthy if you ask me. Cottonmouth was so much better.

 

[Mjölnir]

Killing Cottonmouth was such a BAAAAD choice, the series never recovered for me after that.

And it's not just that the series didn't find it's footing after that, Mahershala was so very charismatic in the role that Cottonmouth was a person you could tie an entire setting around. Mariah and Shades were good as well, but they weren't on that level so even with very good writing they have lost something.

 

[Snikt]

Agreed, he was a great bad guy. Diamond back was pretty cringe worthy if you ask me. Cottonmouth was so much better.

"Caaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrllllllll."

Didn't care for Diamondback either. Was SUPER cartoony and over-the-top.

Oh, and put me down as one who was completely satisfied seeing Danny get his ass handed to him by Matt. I guess it goes to show that experience and maturity always outweigh skill.

 

[Zarex]

What I find interesting is the team dynamic.

- Self-righteous martyr with a garish costume
- Alcoholic sarcastic narcissist
- Huge intimidating powerhouse who is gentle on the inside
- Pretty hippie blonde boy from another fantastical world.

Sound familiar? :P

With a morally questionable, visually impaired older bad a## to bring them together!

 

[Iceman]

Everyone loves Cottonmouth and not Diamondback lol.

 

[Smilodon]

Of course they do. Mahershala Ali plays him.

But in all seriousness, Cottonmouth (as well as Mariah) was a well-developed and nuanced character. Something none of the fingers of The Hand were in The Defenders.

 

[Flint Marko]

I actually liked the Hand this time around. Both DD S2 and Iron Fist weren't able to do that for me. Elektra in particular was pretty scary.

 

[kguillou]

Rewatching the pilot episode and I gotta say, one thing I really liked in this is the cinematography and how each character's world had a color specific hue to them appropriate for the character. It may have been a little blatant at times, but I really appreciate stylistic visual cinematography, just in general. I wish some of the films had that same vibe to them.

 

[righthooksrus86]

I actually liked the Hand this time around. Both DD S2 and Iron Fist weren't able to do that for me. Elektra in particular was pretty scary.

When she breaks into Jessica's apartment with her swords was actually one of my favorite scenes. She was downright frightening.

 

[Sundancer]

Felt like Iron Fist was on the losing side of every 1-1 fight. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[KevTravels]

The Rotten Tomatoes score went from 83% a week ago to like 80% a few days ago to 77% percent like a day ago to 75% now

I think the general consensus is many enjoyed it, but it fell sport on expectations. So I def think a B+ is a fair grade.

I really liked Iron Fist in this although he was almost 2 different characters depending if he was with Luke and the others vs to being solo/or with Colleen.

 

[KevTravels]

Everyone loves Cottonmouth and not Diamondback lol.

The actor playing Diamondback, I really enjoyed him in season 3/4 of Boardwalk Empire. But his dialogue in Luke Cage was so ridiculous. He should have died within 3 episodes of his introduction. We should have saw Luke battle Mariah and Shades rather than be subjected to DB. I guess the producers wanted to include a fight between superpowered fellas.

BTW why was Iron Fist wearing that little coat during the battle in the finale? It'd have been nice to see him ditch it. Was he cold during the fight scene?

And also why was he constantly getting his butt kicked by everyone else? He's this whole "Immortal weapon" yet who did he fight against and win?

 

[Ninjablade]

Just finished the final episode. Damn was this pretty good. I actually haven't watched any of the shows outside of Daredevil, so I'm gonna have to go back and watch them at some point. The Defenders was a lot of fun, I think the middle couple of episodes were the best. The show had a really slow start, but picked up in episodes 4-6. The final two really dragged though. I thought the Hand's plan was kind of ridiculous, and I honestly would've preferred if it wasn't some end the city kind of thing. Could've kept it a little more lowkey while still staying mystical. Overall I liked it a lot 8/10.

 

[Sundancer]

and that rap song in the last episode...uggghhh!

 

[Ninjablade]

Oh, I do think Matt finally putting on the suit again could've been a cooler moment. He kind of just showed up. I was expecting something a little more grand, with a little more fan flare. Should've been this "Oh yeah!" moment.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

The show has gone off the rails after the 4th episode. Damn, this is boring. I was getting excited about Daredevil vs IF but even the fight was underwhelming. This is not awful but just plain boring.

 

[Iceman]

The actor playing Diamondback, I really enjoyed him in season 3/4 of Boardwalk Empire. But his dialogue in Luke Cage was so ridiculous. He should have died within 3 episodes of his introduction. We should have saw Luke battle Mariah and Shades rather than be subjected to DB. I guess the producers wanted to include a fight between superpowered fellas.

BTW why was Iron Fist wearing that little coat during the battle in the finale? It'd have been nice to see him ditch it. Was he cold during the fight scene?

And also why was he constantly getting his butt kicked by everyone else? He's this whole "Immortal weapon" yet who did he fight against and win?

Yeah, even if he's a good actor he wasn't given much to work with as Diamondback. They pretty much got this wrong as it seems nearly everyone here agrees that we should have had more Cottonmouth and less Diamondback.

Yes maybe he was cold lol.

His stupidity contributed to the show for me but I hope he can improve in season 2 and in his own solo season 2. I think it will work better in Defenders 2 when Iron Fist is likely less important to the plot and he can relax a little.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Wow, it's a chore to get through the 6th episode. I haven't seen DD season 1 & 2 but even in the less than stellar episodes of JJ and LC, s**t that was happening on screen was at least interesting or I wanted to see where things were going. This episode is just a screeching halt. Nothing is moving. There is drive or urgency in any situation. I hope it's ends on a high note because so far, it has been bad.

 

[Iceman]

I actually liked the Hand this time around. Both DD S2 and Iron Fist weren't able to do that for me. Elektra in particular was pretty scary.

I was definitely happy with Elektra, a real badass. Sigourney Weaver is a great actress so I don't know why we couldn't aim for another Wilson Fisk there. Aside from that I wanted more from the other fingers of the Hand and the goons could have been better too.

 

[Dark Raven]

The series was generally good, but I think I would've liked a different ending which was more triumphant and saw the team together one more time at the very end with them parting ways but agreeing that they would come together when needed. Here it's as if they all just drifted apart back to their own separate lives. Even Luke Cage and Danny didn't have any scene with each other at the end.

I did think Sigourney Weaver was rather wasted and was underwhelming.

I thought DD would kill Elektra this time round. Is Elektra still alive if DD is alive? And if they are alive, how do we know other members of the Hand aren't still alive? What if Madame Gao shows up in future? And if they are alive, then they blew up a building for no reason.

Good to see that Misty is going to get her arm. Hopefully it will be bionic and not just a standard prosthetic arm.

It was a bit of a slow burn at the start and could've moved on a bit quicker. I did feel by the end though that the whole thing was over quickly and wanted more.

Will the other characters know that DD is alive only in the next season of the Defenders, or in their own series? If DD has a season 3 and shows up again there, then won't the other Defenders know that he is alive?

And where was the Punisher in here? I didn't think he was going to be in here ultimately, but it seemed he was widely rumoured for this series in a cameo.

If they're doing Born Again for DD season 3, then are they missing out the whole storyline with Matt's life deteriorating as a result of the Kingpin (and possibly Karen Paige)? Is it just about him recuperating from the fall out of the explosion?

Also, I can't remember, but did Jessica Jones have "Alias Investigations" written on her door before in season 1 of her series or was this the first time we ever saw that?

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Well the ending was better than whatever was happening earlier on in the episode but the death was still underwhelming. I mean I didn't care about Alexandra and she wasn't even some strong physical adversary for the Defenders so that her death will shock me. So yeah, it was super underwhelming. Sigourney Weaver was definitely wasted.

 

[Dark Raven]

She should've at least been built up in previous series like Iron Fist or DD season 2. She was barely in it enough for us to really care that much. Yes, it was a bit of a surprise, but if she had been played by an other lesser-known actress, we would've not even really batted an eyelid.

 

[Iceman]

She should've at least been built up in previous series like Iron Fist or DD season 2. She was barely in it enough for us to really care that much. Yes, it was a bit of a surprise, but if she had been played by an other lesser-known actress, we would've not even really batted an eyelid.

I would have liked if the eventual main villain of Defenders (not counting Elektra) had been foreshadowed more and mentioned as an underlying threat often (like Kingpin was before we saw him).