Defenders Showrunner Reveals Reasons For Elektra’s Big Kills

Daredevil Season 2 hinted at how dangerous Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung) could be, and The Defenders solidified twice-over that Elektra is a deadly character. However, Elektra’s victims were not chosen at random.

Major SPOILERS for Marvel’s The Defenders follow.

Marco Ramirez was the showrunner on the second season of Marvel’s Daredevil, where Elektra made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, and he continued her story as showrunner on Marvel’s The Defenders. According to Ramirez, Elektra’s victims were symbolic of her coming of age.

“[Stick’s] the one who had always been saying, ‘The war for New York is coming, the war for New York is coming,’ so really, if there are going to be any casualties in the war for New York, it’s going to be the guy talking about it,” Ramirez tells Entertainment Weekly.

Stick (Scott Glenn) was just the first to go. Elektra then literally stabbed in the back the woman who resurrected her, Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver), killing her as well, and her refusal to return to the light with Daredevil (Charlie Cox) nearly led ot his death as well.

“That was very much a part of Elektra’s rejection of him as her paternal figure, and then her rejection of her maternal figure in her life, and then the rejection of the romantic figure in her life as well [when she fights Matt],” Ramirez explains. “She’s really saying, ‘I am making my own destiny,’ and so Elektra’s ending to me is a bittersweet one, but I feel like at the end of episode 8 there is truth in what she’s saying, which is, ‘I’m leaving, I’m finally, completely free. Matt, you’re not going to try to tether me to anything, this is who I was born to be.’”

Ramirez expands the idea of self-identification, saying that it could be applied to the members of The Defenders as well.

“I feel like maybe the same goes for Danny and for Luke and for Matt and for Jessica Jones, you know?” he says. “The idea of rejecting the identity that the world is trying to put upon you, and having to embrace the identity you want, of ‘This is who I am.’”

We thought Marvel’s The Defenders was worth the wait. Let us know what you thought Marvel and Netflix’s superhero crossover by giving The Defenders your own rating below.

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.

Marvel’s The Defenders is now streaming on Netflix.