The MCU Needs the Defenders (No, Not Those Defenders)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe feels like it’s in a rebuilding year. Things were on a bit of a downturn in the years after Avengers: Endgame, but 2024 felt like a turning point. The billion-dollar success of Deadpool & Wolverine made people excited for the MCU again. That, combined with the announcements of the returns of Robert Downey Jr. and the Russo brothers in the upcoming Avengers movies, made a lot of fans who had almost lost hope optimistic again and 2025 — headlined by Captain America: Brave New World and Fantastic Four: First Steps — is looking to be a great time for MCU fans. With the eventual debut of the X-Men, the MCU is poised to become a juggernaut once again.

With the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men under its aegis, the Marvel Cinematic Universe boasts all of Marvel’s most important teams — except one. That left-behind team is the Defenders. However, it’s not the one most modern team Marvel fans are thinking of, the one starring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. No, this is the original Defenders, a very different kind of superhero team and they’re perfect for the MCU.

The Defenders Are Comics’ Greatest Non-Team

The Defenders first appeared in 1971’s Marvel Feature #1. The first roster of the team consisted of Hulk, Namor, and Doctor Strange. Right away, this grouping was very different from any other team in the Marvel Universe. Hulk and Namor were known for fighting the other heroes as often as they teamed up with them, and back then, Doctor Strange was a loner who hadn’t been a member of any of Marvel’s teams. The three of them teamed up to battle an enemy named Yandrath, and the Defenders were born. The team would prove to be popular with fans and would soon get its own series, The Defenders.

Doctor Strange’s girlfriend Clea would join the team, but the final piece truly dropped into place when Silver Surfer joined in The Defenders #2. Hulk, Namor, Doctor Strange, and Silver Surfer became the core of the group that man called a “non-team.” Each Marvel team at the time had a different dynamic. The Fantastic Four was a family, the X-Men were a school class, and the Avengers were a group of friends working together. The Defenders were none of those things. In fact, they didn’t really like each other very much and were just as likely to bicker amongst themselves as they were to have amazing team-building moments. The group would evolve as time went on, with new members joining — familiar to MCU fans heroes like Hawkeye, Valkyrie, Beast, Wasp, Red Guardian, and Luke Cage along with less familiar members like Nighthawk, Son of Satan, and Gargoyle — but the vibe would always stay the same.

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The Defenders are perfect for the MCU. To begin with, the team’s dynamic plays well with the MCU’s style of quippy dialogue and character interactions. There’s always that barely restrained violence under the surface when the different members of the team interact, and it would be interesting to see how the MCU makes that work. The smaller number of team members is an exciting prospect for an MCU team as well. Sometimes, characters get lost in the shuffle of the larger teams — something that afflicted Black Widow in later MCU films — and such a small team would keep that from happening.

A team movie starring Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor, and Silver Surfer also has star power. Doctor Strange’s last movie made a billion dollars and fans are excited to know what role Strange will play next in the MCU. Benedict Cumberbatch does an excellent job with the character and plays very well off other actors, so putting him in a small ensemble like the Defenders is perfect. Fans are dying for more Hulk content, and since Marvel seemingly can’t do Hulk solo movies, the Defenders is the next best thing. Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk is another fan favorite and putting him in a movie with a smaller cast will give him a bigger focus.

Namor, played by Tenoch Huerta, made a minor splash with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and could use a Defenders film to become more important. In the comics, Namor has a rich legacy of what can best be described as antagonistic heroism and putting the MCU version in a Defenders movie can build him into the entertaining character he is in the comics. Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer hasn’t appeared yet, but Garner is a brilliant actress and has already teased Silver Surfer’s importance to the MCU. In the comics, Silver Surfer is confined to Earth by Galactus for a time, and the MCU could follow that, giving her the chance to become a Defender. The MCU has all the tools to make the Defenders stars.

The Defenders Can Be Marvel’s Next Big Thing

The MCU is growing into something special and there’s definitely room for the Defenders. The group brings together two of the MCU’s most popular yet under-utilized characters — Strange and Hulk — with two newer characters that need to prove themselves — Namor and Silver Surfer. The non-team dynamic is tailor-made for the MCU.

However, the best part about the Defenders is that there’s room to grow. The Defenders were at the peak of their power during the ’70s and ’80s, the team’s roster growing beyond the original four. The Defenders can be used in a similar way to how they were back then — as a vehicle to bring less-known characters to the forefront. The team doesn’t have to be the big event team like the Avengers, allowing it to do more with the characters on its roster, basically becoming the new version of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the MCU. The Defenders being used in the MCU is a win-win, giving a showcase for characters that deserve it and giving moviegoers a very different kind of superhero team.