7 Questions We Have After Watching The Defenders

The latest Netflix series brought the Marvel superheroes of New York together to face the immense threat of the hand.

Spoilers for The Defenders.

The enigmatic leader of the Hand named Alexandra sought to destroy the city while attempting to gain the key to immortality, bringing her into conflict with Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and the Iron Fist.

And while The Defenders served as the climax of various storylines from different series, mostly from Daredevil and Iron Fist, it positioned the characters and their allies in unique places moving forward.

It also had a lot of questions left unanswered! I mean, seriously, there were a lot.

Some of them might be mysteries left to be explored in future seasons, some of them might be abandoned plots, some of them might even be mistakes from the writing team. It’s hard to tell.

Either way, here are some of the questions from The Defenders that we are asking after watching all eight episodes.

Who was Stick talking to in Daredevil Season One?

The seventh episode of Daredevil showed Stick talking to a mysterious figure.

The scene had an implication that Stick was taking orders from someone, or at least wasn’t the only leader in the mysterious group he was fighting for.

We later learned that group’s name is the Chaste, but Stick later said that the Hand killed every one of the members early on in Defenders except for him.

So who was that mysterious guy from the first season? Was he supposed to be Stone from the Frank Miller Daredevil comics? And will we see him in the future?

Who knows. At this point, we wouldn’t be surprised if it was a plot point that was discarded for the sake of uncomplicating the events of The Defenders.

What happened to Madame Gao?

This one will likely be answered in one of the future Netflix series, but it still warrants to be asked.

Two of the Five Fingers of the Hand — Madame Gao and Murakami — fought with the Defenders in the bowels of Midland Circle.

As the building started to come down, Gao slunk to the shadows while Murakami attempted to stop Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage from escaping. He fell a few stories for his troubles and was left for dead as the building came down around him.

Gao returned approached him laying on the ground, impaled by rebar. As the debris started fall, Murakami asked Gao what was happening. She simply replied “The end.”

The next scene cut to a timer with eight seconds, and then the building imploded.

Why did Gao hide just to potentially be caught in the debris? What about their escape plan? Did she make it out alive? Hopefully we find out in the future…

How did Daredevil survive?

While the other Defenders escaped, Matt Murdock stayed behind in a last-ditch effort to get through to Elektra as the building imploded on top of them. But Daredevil revealed to Iron Fist he knew he wasn’t getting out alive.

With bomb going off and Midland Circle crashing on top of them, Murdock and Elektra embraced for what could have been the last time, resigned to their fate and ready for death.

But then the closing moments of The Defenders revealed that Murdock survived and was taken in by a convent of nuns that could include his mother, Sister Maggie.

So how did Murdock make it out alive? And could it have something to do with Madame Gao?

We’ll likely learn the answer when Daredevil Season Three premieres on Netflix next year.

Did K’un-Lun really get destroyed?

Danny Rand was chosen as the Iron Fist to protect K’un-Lun but he returned to New York City in Season One of his solo series.

When he attempted to go back, he found the bodies of monks and Hand ninjas littering the entrance to the sacred temple. He assumed it was destroyed and went back to get revenge on the Hand.

He later gets captured by Elektra and brought to the Hand’s leader Alexandra in The Defenders. Alexandra reveals that she and her allies used to live in K’un-Lun but were cast out a long time ago. They created the Hand to return to their home.

When Rand told her that K’un-Lun was destroyed by her forces she replied that Rand only saw what he wanted to see, casting doubt on his assumption.

So what really happened to K’un-Lun? Maybe we’ll learn in Iron Fist Season Two.

What’s the deal with the dragons?

The Hand needed Danny Rand to “unlock a door,” which really meant “punch a mystical wall that only the Iron Fist can break through.”

Behind that wall was the secret to the Hand’s immortality — dragon bones.

Iron Fist revealed that Shou-Lun the Undying was the source of K’un-Lun’s mystical power, but there were apparently more dragons in existence at one point.

So was that wall a portal to K’un-Lun? Or was it just the resting place of a dead dragon that the monks of K’un-Lun needed to protect?

And how do they make the dragon bones into that black goo the Hand uses to bring people back from the dead?

Seriously, there are so many questions about the dragons that it could warrant its own list.

How did the Hand revive Bokuto?

This is a timing question but considering Daredevil Season Two took place a few months before the events of The Defenders, we can’t help but wonder how Bokuto returned after his death in Iron Fist.

Elektra was revived in the closing moments of Daredevil‘s second season finale. In The Defenders, we learn that the other fingers of the Hand resents Alexandra for reviving Elektra because she used the last of “the substance” (AKA dragon bone goo) to resurrect the Black Sky.

Since Iron Fist feeds right into The Defenders, it’s probably safe to assume it takes place after Daredevil Season Two.

So how did the Hand revive Bokuto if Alexandra used up all their means to resurrect people?

We’re not likely to get an answer now that both Bokuto, Alexandra, and possibly every other member of the Hand dead. Though some of the dragon bones might have escaped Midland Circle before the implosion, these are characters who probably won’t show up in a future Netflix show.

Where was the Punisher?

Frank Castle’s campaign of violence put him at odds with some of the worst criminals in New York City.

So where the hell was he when the Hand was causing earthquakes and killing teenagers?

The Punisher also knows about the Hand after having sniped a few in the second season finale of Daredevil. So why did he steer clear from the Battle of New York 2.0?

We expect to learn the reason in his upcoming solo series and it better be a good excuse…

The Defenders

The Defenders is now streaming on Netflix.

Marvel’s The Defenders follows Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones). A quartet of singular heroes with one common goal – to save New York City. This is the story of four solitary figures, burdened with their own personal challenges, who realize they just might be stronger when teamed together.