‘The Defenders’ Showrunner Explains [SPOILER]’s Death

The latest Marvel series introduced a powerful new villain who was believed to have a major impact on the series.

Spoilers for The Defenders below.

Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal of Alexandra intimidated her enemies and allies alike with fear, enforcing her will with the resurrected (and brainwashed) Elektra.

That is, until Elektra drove a sai through her back and cut off her head in the sixth episode.

Alexandra’s end was a shocking development in the crossover series, a bait-and-switch move that positioned Elektra as the Big Bad of the series. Defenders showrunner Marco Ramirez told EW why the series made such a bold move toward the end of the series.

“Well, part of it was just about giving the audience a little something unexpected,” Ramirez said. “Audiences I think sometimes expect that a major storyline or major character is going to end in the ultimate or penultimate episode so they go, ‘Oh all right, something’s going to happen here at the end of the story,’ so it just felt like a jolt, and it was exciting to write. The second part was really in a way we introduced Sigourney’s character a little bit to highlight Elektra’s story. I like to think that we wrote a really fun cool character for Sigourney but really it was also a way for us to say this is the journey that Elektra is going on.”

When asked if there was ever a different end considered for Alexandra, Ramirez admitted that it would be difficult to craft a narrative where one of the Defenders killed her instead.

“None of them would get to the place where they’re taking a life. They would really have to be pushed there,” Ramirez said. “[Having Elektra kill Alexandra] felt more in terms with this conceptual mother-daughter dynamic that we wanted to explore thoroughly. We wanted to build that so we could subvert it and have [Elektra] say ‘I’m taking over.’ We wanted to show Sigourney as a regal maternal figure and a master, and for Elektra to basically say, ‘I have no master.’ To me, it’s organic in the writing of Elektra, because Elektra has been told by many people in her life what she is, whether it was Stick or Matt, it had been them telling her who she is…. So when she kills Alexandra, it’s really her saying, ‘People need to stop telling me who I am. This is who I am.’ And I think there’s something particularly interesting about that idea.”

It might have been risky to kill off Sigourney Weaver’s character before the climax and position Elodie Yung‘s Elektra as the main villain, but it paid off in the end.

Marvel’s 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.