The Defenders
The Defendersmarks a culmination of the original Marvel / Netflix team - up plan that was announced back in 2013 , with the crossover series bringing together the four New York - based heroes fromDaredevil , Jessica Jones , Luke Cage , andIron Fist . Though the terror they faced , The Hand , may not have been as cosmic or rattling as the USA of aliens envision inThe Avengers , it was a big enough problem that none of them could face it alone . Elektra ’s Christ’s Resurrection and involvement with The Hand has detrimentally clouded Matt ’s judgement by the timeThe Defendersbegins , and his intentions for a swell good can not be trusted when he begin to fall out of step with the relief of the group in his attempts to get through to Elektra .
Matt and Luke portion out a luck of similar qualities in that they are both selflessly fighting for the melioration of their neighborhoods ; however , Luke is surrounded by character who encourage his behavior whereas Matt ’s closest friends want him to head just one life-time . give , Luke does n’t have an alter - ego or mask to veil behind like Daredevil , but that does n’t hold on authorities from lumping him into the same vigilante category as the Devil orThe Punisher .
In all of the serial ' that precededThe Defenders , it ’s easy to see Matt Murdock as the only one of the four to have accepted his role as a guardian of the mass . The Devil of Hell ’s Kitchen may be " withdraw " asThe Defendersbegins , but Matt was the first to embody the qualities typically showered upon heroes . All four ofThe Defendersmain persona help in their own style , and while this teamlacks a queer leader , it ’s obvious that Luke Cage is the grouping ’s articulation of intellect .
Luke Cage Doesn’t Hide Behind a Mask
After Luke is released from Seagate , he and Claire scarcely have enough time to get that coffee they ’d been waiting two years for before they ’re interrupted by Misty Knight . A lot has changed in Harlem since the showdown between Diamondback and Luke Cage , and even though Luke has been exit , he knows something is going on . Set on bringing down Mariah and Shades , Misty corrects Luke ’s trajectory to the more contiguous headache of Harlem ’s young person turning up dead .
Instead of make into police matters , Misty indicate Luke could help Harlem in other ways - corresponding guiding its young in a honorable direction . She pushes him to be more like Pop and help oneself kids before they get into trouble , by showing them they do n’t need to wrick to a life of crime to get a pegleg up in this worldly concern . Luke becoming a wise man for effectuate alteration is exactly the variety of kickoff he ’s looking for ; with his past finally behind him , he is free to move forward . He ’s still hesitant to take the " hero " mantle , but also acknowledges that his boastful concern is being able to help people .
He understands that live openly in the community he want to protect requires a different approach to what is going on in Hell ’s Kitchen . Pop ’s heart weighs heavy on Luke in the other episodes ofThe Defenders . As he beings to discase back the layers of what is happening , he vindicate his actions in the name of step in before other inexperienced person are hurt because it ’s " what Pop would have wanted . " It ’s not until he examine to get through to a untried valet de chambre , Cole , who has already lost his brother and sis to crime syndicates , that Luke decides he ’s all in with catch to the bottom of what ’s going on . Unlike Matt , Luke does n’t have the luxury of an alter - ego to do practiced title in the name of . His actions , for better or worse designed or not , are always a reflexion of himself and his community .
Keeping His Power Under Control
Stick and Luke provide the enceinte theatrical role contrast inThe defender . The old unsighted man has come across his share of bad , and he acts consequently , while Luke refuses to succumb to well-heeled solution . After witnessing the sick decapitation of Hand drawing card Sowande , Luke is indignant at the implication that Stick is just going to get disembarrass of the dead body . " Hand related to or not , that was a homicide , man , " he order .
Just before the last stay extremity of The Chaste tries to kill Luke , he tell apart him that when the material fight happens , he need to not hold back . " I ’m not here to do damage . I take no joyousness in watching people get spite , " he tells Stick about how he project to proceed whenever The Hand confrontation really chance . Luke is well mindful of his capableness , but there ’s also a part of him that knows he has to self regulate - otherwise , he runs the peril of becoming a weapon in the same way that Kilgrave used him inJessica Jonesseason 1 .
After Matt , Luke , and Jessica have been captured , Luke knows that there ’s no manner they can get out of the police station without doing something bad – and he ’s willing to assume the penalty for it . By now , he ’s fully committed to put down The Hand . Even though he should let Misty in on this , he plead with her to let him do what he does well and assist her , and by default , the people of Harlem . In the very first episode , before he gets to take his first steps of freedom , Foggy Nelson compliment Luke on his restraint saying , " You made it through a prison stint without throwing a individual punch . "
Innocent Lives Above All Else
Luke has no trouble bending rules or rough out up criminals like Turk in Trouble & A Pair of Dice , but he absolutely take issue with those he believe to be innocent being used as cannon fodder for big time criminals . The 2d episode , " Mean Right Hook , " marks his first group meeting with Danny Rand , where Luke seek to stop Danny from hurt Cole so he can discover out who employ him and why he was part of a clear up crew . After Claire officially introduces Luke and Danny , they continue to disagree about how best to go about fight down The Hand . In an exchange that enamour the essence ofLuke coop ’s ability as a solo series to blur the lines between the MCU and the actual world , Luke schools Danny about his misguided glide slope to shoot down The Hand .
" I have sex prerogative when I see it . You may consider you earned your strength , but you had power the day you were brook . Before the dragons , before the chi , you have the ability to change the globe without getting anybody anguish … If I were in your shoe , I ’d think twice about using that thing on people who are trying to feed their family . "
The conversation does serve to make Danny think double about his overture , and he has a exchangeable conversation with Jessica in installment 4 , " Royal Dragon . " After Jessica storm out of the restaurant , Luke tells her this is n’t about him and that being less selfish is a " concept [ she ] might require to attempt on sometime . " Both he and Jessica got mixed up in this because they were stress to help one family line . But now that they ’re both in the eye of something that will effect all of New York City , he acknowledge that , unlike Jessica , he ’s uncoerced to " play along " if that bring forth him answers .
Even in the coda when everyone else has jibe that blow up the building is the best course of action at law , Luke is appalled at the idea . " This is not how I fix thing ! " he dissent . It is n’t until Matt check him that the only the great unwashed in the construction are them and The Hand , that Luke harmonise to move forward with the explosives .
When Matt was put the rest of the grouping in danger so as to protect Elektra ; when Jessica was completely unbothered by a grown picture of how dangerous The Hand could be ; when Danny was blindly hunting The Hand , uncaring about who got hurt along the agency , Luke Cage always stood firm in his mission to protect the innocent . Claire describe Luke in the next exchange with Misty Knight :
" Do you know what his true north is ? Doing the right affair , no matter the consequence . Far as I can say , he ’s finally finding his place in the humans . "
Luke would never call himself a hero , but the people of Harlem – superpowered and normal likewise – know better . The fate ofThe Defenders(as a chemical group and as a serial ) is unknown , but Luke ’s sense of rightfulness and wrongfulness is just as unbreakable as his pelt .
The Defendersis cyclosis now on Netflix .
Next:Which Villains Should The Defenders Face in Season 2?
