The Defenders: Everything You Need To Know

Now that it’s July, we can finally say that The Defenders premieres on Netflix next month.

The Marvel Television equivalent of pairing the Avengers together, The Defenders will see Matt Murdock/Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist/Danny Rand team up to fight the ninja clan known as The Hand and Sigourney Weaver’s seemingly terrifying character.

With the Defenders and company getting their own Hall H panel at this summer’s San Diego Comic-Con, we thought we’d take a second to fill you on the what’s what and who’s who of Netflix’s street-level team-up.

Up Next: The Defenders Are Coming To Hall H

Be sure to scroll through the slides below to make sure you’re up-to-date on the latest Defenders news.

The Release Date

Netflix and Marvel TV teamed up to release a viral video announcing the release date of the eight-episode first season.  The video, which can be seen below, shows the group of Defenders crammed into an elevator at Midland Circle Financial.

As Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) looks around to make herself familiar with her surroundings, she notices a security camera recording them.  Unfortunately for the security camera, she goes on to beat the ever-loving crap out of it and the time stamp upon its destruction reads “08.18.20:17” — August 18, 2017.

Not only that, the security camera has an IP address in the top left corner.  If you type said IP address into the address bar of your browser, it will take you the website of the New York Bulletin — the newspaper Karen Page and the late Ben Urich worked for.

The Plot

While we know the four characters we’ve seen in their own shows will begrudgingly team up to fight crime on the streets of New York City, we don’t know many further exact plot details.

Fans of the second season of Daredevil will be ecstatic as showrunners Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez are reprising their duties as showrunner for The Defenders.

Talking to the Los Angeles Times, Ramirez revealed some details on what to expect from the show.

“We get to lean into the messiness, and the haste, of these four all thrown together dealing and working professionally with each other,” Ramirez said before going on to describe each of the four main characters.

“Daredevil, the trained boxer of the group, just wants every punch to be the last,” reflected Ramirez.  “Luke Cage plays defense — he’s the guy who will cover a child, he will use his body defensively.”

“Jessica Jones just wants the fight to be over, takes no joy in it and detests every part of the act, even the build up. That, as an attitude, is so much fun to watch once she’s fighting,” the showrunner said.  “Danny Rand is kind of hot-headed, a little more naïve than the others. He’s very eager and gets himself into fights and bites off more than he can chew, a lot.”

Outside of the four main characters, we know they’ll be fighting The Hand, a traditional nemesis of Daredevil in the comics.  Pop culture icon Sigourney Weaver has been cast as the mysterious Alexandra, a character we have virtually no details on.

The Cast

Not only are the four main characters teaming up, they’re bringing most of their friends with them.  So far, at least 14 characters can be confirmed to be reprising their roles in The Defenders.

From Daredevil, Charlie Cox is back as Daredevil while Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) will both be coming to the aid of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.  Oh yeah, did we mention Elektra (Elodie Yung) is back from the dead?  Murdock’s former lover is out for blood this time around.

In addition to Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones, Trish Walker (Rachel Taylor) and Malcom Ducasse (Eka Darville) are making the transition from Jessica Jones.

Power Man himself (Mike Colter) and Misty Knight (Simone Missick) will be coming over from Luke Cage while Danny Rand (Finn Jones) and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) reprise their roles from Iron Fist.

Additional characters from the Netflix corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that will be back include Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), Stick (Scott Glenn), and Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss).

The Trailers

In addition to the viral video previously released, we’ve also gotten our first look at the crew in action as Netflix has released the first trailer to the show, and it sure is a doozy.

Of course we get to see our beloved characters all on screen for the first time together, but we also get our first shot of Weaver’s Alexandra in action as she seemingly overlooks a scene of destruction.

As previously mentioned, the Defenders crew will be heading to San Diego Comic-Con, having a panel in the infamous Hall H starting at 5:15 PT on Friday, July 21, so expect some footage or a second trailer then.

Before You Go

Marvel’s The Defenders is the miniseries that will bring together all of Marvel’s Netflix stars, including Iron Fist (Finn Jones) Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), and Luke Cage (Mike Colter), to protect New York City from its greatest threat yet.

Marvel’s The Defenders is developed by Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez. The miniseries will also feature Sigourney Weaver as the villain, Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver), and several recurring guest stars from Marvel’s Daredevil, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Marvel’s Luke Cage, and Marvel’s Iron Fist, including Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse, Simone Missick as Misty Knight, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth, Scott Glenn as Stick, Rachael Taylor as Trish Walker, Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple, and Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing.

Marvel’s The Defenders premieres on Netflix on Aug. 18, 2017.

MORE DEFENDERS NEWS: Finn Jones Discusses Danny Rand’s Character Growth Throughout The Defenders / Madame Gao Confirmed For The Defenders / Marvel’s Defenders Takes Place Over A Very Short Period Of Time / Marvel And Netflix Release A New Look At The Defenders