Everything We Learned About Marvel’s the Defenders

Last week, the first officially outpouring of new information about Marvel’s The Defenders on Netflix was released.

Star Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, and Finn Jones each revealed new information about their respective character’s role in the Netflix’s Marvel team-up miniseries. Netflix and Marvel also released the first bit of information about The Defenders‘ villain, played by Sigourney Weaver.

With all of this information coming out at once, it would be understandable if some of it passed by even the most hardcore of fans. That’s why ComicBook.com is rounding it all up into this post, for a simplified reading experience.

Here’s everything we learned about Marvel’s The Defenders.

Daredevil

Charlie Cox revealed that The Defenders will pick up a few months after the end of Marvel’s Daredevil Season 2. After revealing his secret to Karen Page, Matt Murdock is trying to put his life as a vigilante behind him.

“Well, it’s been a few months since the end of season 2,” Cox says. “I think it’s been quite a challenging few months for him. He took the death of Elektra very badly —I think he feels responsible for that. One of Matt’s big things is trying to protect the people he loves, which is why he keeps his identity hidden, and he’s failed. He’s left holding the dead body of a loved one, and so I think he’s tried to turn a corner.”

Cox also described his favorite comic book panel featuring Daredevil and fellow Defender Luke Cage.

Jessica Jones

Marvel’s Jessica Jones star Krysten Ritter revealed the Jones is struggling with her newfound success.

“She’s still dealing with the aftermath of Kilgrave, and now she’s dealing with ‘success’ — and not well,” Ritter said. “People want her to work for them, she’s getting a lot of business, and she’s not ready for any of that. She hasn’t changed, but her environment has, and there’s no handbook for how to exist in a world where you are now popular.”

Ritter also discussed how Joens fits in with the rest of the Defenders, and described her relationship with Daredevil as “cat-and-mouse.”

Finally, even though Marvel’s The Defenders Season 1 is still filming, Ritter is alredy willing to return for a second season.

Luke Cage

Mike Colter confirmed that Luke Cage would not be spending the entirety of Marvel’s The Defenders Season 1 behind bars at Seagate Prison. Instead, he’ll emerge from his incarceration as a changed man.

“It’s safe to say Cage is not going to spend the entire season of The Defenders behind bars,” Colter said. “He’s been able to come clean and deal with his past… The difficulty with Cage [in the first season] is that he has this secret, he has this thing that he’s been trying to run away from and deal with, and that’s a big burden to bear. That weighs on you, that changes who you are as a person. Now that that’s out of the way, I think we can give him a different approach to life.”

Colter also points out that Cage is the only member of the Defenders who is widely known by the public.

While fans are looking forward to seeing all of the Defenders come together, there’s an extra amount of anticipation around the Luke Cage and Iron Fist relationship thanks to their history as the Heroes for Hire in the Marvel Comics universe. Colter describes Cage as a kind of mentor to Iron Fist in The Defenders.

Colter also confirmed that The Defenders will feature more of Cage’s romantic relationship with Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson).

Iron Fist

Finn Jones is unique among his The Defenders co-stars in that his character’s solo series, Marvel’s Iron Fist, hasn’t yet debuted on Netflix. Jones helped draw a road map between the two, describing Marvel’s Iron Fist as a kind of coming of age story for Danny Rand.

Jones also described Iron Fist’s role as part of the Defenders team, and it turns out he’s the cornerstone of the group.

“So Danny Rand is the one who really knows what’s going on. He knows how serious the situation is.” Jones said, “Danny Rand, he’s the one that kind of drives the group to get sh*t done.”

Jones also spoke a bit about Iron Fist’s relationship with the Defenders as a whole, and with Luke Cage specifically.

Alexandra

Last week fans also got their first look at Sigourney Weaver as Marvel’s The Defenders‘ chief villain. They also learned that the character’s name is Alexandra.

Not much else was revealed about Alexandra, but showrunner Marco Ramirez did say, “Sigourney is the kind of person you can buy as the smartest person in the room, who you can also buy as a person holding a flamethrower. Her character is a very powerful force in New York City. She’s everything Sigourney is: sophisticated, intellectual, dangerous.”

If anyone can play a character capable of challenging Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage all at once, it is probably Sigourney Weaver.

New The Defenders Comic Book

In the lead up to the premiere of Marvel’s The Defenders, Marvel Comics will put Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist together as the Defenders of the Marvel Comics Universe for the very first time in a new series from Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez, the creative behind the Civil War II event series.

“There are a lot of fans who will say, ‘Oh they’re doing a TV show, so of course there’s going to be a comic,’ but at least in this case, there’s a comic I can point you to,” editor Tom Brevoort says. “Read the last two pages of Brian’s New Avengers! Certainly that there is a big new exciting Netflix TV show coming is a good excuse for us to get to that story that we planted the seed on.”