After a few years of build-up, the Netflix series “The Defenders” finally came out, putting together the hugely disparate worlds of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and (cringe) Iron Fist. It was a love letter to our street-level version of The Avengers, and overall, was a pretty okay effort, albeit a bit too grimdark for its own good despite being surrounded by Ninja and Kung-Fu and frigging dragons.
Still, with the highs achieved by Daredevil’s first season, Jessica Jones, and most of Luke Cage, we couldn’t help but think it could have been so much better. Here are 8 ways that could have been accomplished…
Less emphasis on Iron Fist
Let’s face it: Iron Fist was the weakest link among all four Defenders, and having him as the focal figure for this show was one of the worst decisions they could make. When contrasted with the brooding Matt Murdock, the snarky Jessica Jones, and the conflicted Luke Cage, a petulant Danny Rand just doesn’t cut the mustard.
I get that The Hand was the easiest way to bring the four of them together, but the less we had to deal with Danny’s petulance, the better.
The action needed more contrast
While it was obvious that Daredevil fights nothing like Luke Cage, it seemed we had only two fighting styles in the entire series: martial arts, and brawling. You would think there’d be a wide gulf between a self-trained, mainly boxer-influenced guy like Daredevil and a Kung-Fu love letter like the Iron Fist, but they pretty much fight the same way.
Misty Knight needed to be less of a pain
Misty Knight’s “by the books” attitude was clearly not cutting it in a world where superheroes exist. Hard to be skeptical about things when you see literal norse gods and spider-men running around New York City, y’know.
More Madame Gao is always welcome
Let’s face it: the most fascinating member of the Hand was always Madame Gao. To have her be so subservient simply did the show no favors, when she could have been the big bad instead.
Daredevil and Jessica Jones mesh well together
We knew right off the bat that Luke Cage and Jessica Jones have chemistry due to both of them interacting a lot in “Jessica Jones,” and we all know that based on the comics, Luke Cage and Danny Rand would inevitably be inseparable, which we got some shades of during the course of the series, but who knew that an attorney and a P.I. would also get along just marvelously? There is a whole lot of potential in seeing them interact more in future seasons for either of their individual shows.
More Colleen Wing
Don’t ask why. Just do it.
A big-screen to small-screen cameo
You know what would’ve created buzz? If even just, say, Happy Hogan, Iron Man’s chauffeur, made a quick cameo after the whole thing ended. Tall order, but that would have been the easiest way to get people talking and watching: an actual Avengers cameo.
The big bad should have always been who it ended up being
Having Sigourney Weaver be the apparent big bad throughout the first three quarters of the show was an exercise in rudimentary character development just for us to care enough when they offed her.
The person who ended up being the real villain of the series was far more compelling if they made her so much earlier on during the season.
What did you think of the show? Tell us below!
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