The Defenders
After long time of progress through multiple appearance , Marvel finally debut theirDefendersminiseries , bringing their street - storey heroes together to fight the Hand . It was a fun if ill step drive that officially closed Phase 1 of the Netflix Marvel serial . The ending control a bevy of change bring to our bomber ’ earth in the lead of their upcoming solo seasons . Iron Fist seems set to take the station of a presume - drained Daredevil , Elektra is evil(er ) , Jessica Jones is drink slightly less , Luke Cageis back in Harlem , and moreheroes are on the way . Hell , even Matt Murdoch ’s motherMaggie(say that five time fast ) was badger near the end .
The Defenderstold a obscure and complicated fib that expect more than it answered , and as it ended , pass a great deal of fourth dimension re - lay their characters for their upcoming season and stories . Once the final credit rolled , it left us with a surfeit of inquiry about where these characters will pick up again and whatPhase 2is edifice toward . We gormandise and re - binged , and long the way , we found15 Burning Questions After Season 1 Of The Defenders .
So…what was the plan all along?
The Defenderswas extremely obscure on the existent motive of its villain . From what we gleaned , this was the plot : Ra ’s al Ghul and the League of AssassinsAlexandra and the Handuse a Lazarus Pit the blood serum that stay fresh them immortal to rise Elektra to fulfill the Black Sky prophecy that will be … bad for mass ? In some way ? peradventure ?
The Handused the cakehole in the reason they made to remove the bones of dragon . This is induce earthquake throughout New York . Once New York is destroyed , K’un - Lunwill return , or the Hand will be able to extend their lives again . Or something .
Okay , we ’re not really sure what the plan was here or why any of it was happening . The Chinese eating place scene was really fun , though , was n’t it ?
Is there any way to salvage Danny Rand?
To quoteReverend Lovejoy : “ curt response , ‘ yes ’ with an ‘ if ’ ; long answer , ‘ no ’ with a ‘ but . ’”The Defenderswent out of its way to paint Danny in a skillful illumination than his ownIron Fistseries did . He was more likable this time around , but would still , when the plot require it — or sometimes just for the interest of padding out the script — return to beingpetulant , whiny , and impulsive . Forcing him to produce up a bit by Daredevil telling him to “ protect my city ” emphatically maturate the character , but having so much of the patch trust on Danny Rand stand for exposing us to too much of whatIron Fistdid wrong with the character rather than usingThe Defendersto softly boot the character . If we can be honest with ourselves for just a minute , there probably was n’t a Danny Rand scene where we did n’t care Colleen was in his place or that Jessica would snap and send him flying across the room .
The death ofThe Defendersdoes give us Bob Hope for Danny , but not much . dainty Batman - level brooding , though .
Are the Netflix series going darker now?
A grouping of hazardously powered character get together and clear their enemies have gathered in one place . They plan on blowing up the building and letting them all go . Did you think we were talk about the Hand ? Nope . This was the plan of theDefenders . The good guys . Their idea was to set in motion a brat blast in New York . Again . The skilful guys .
Most of the Defenders are in a darker place than they were before . Jessica is more nihilistic than she was before killingPurple Man . Luke Cage just got out of prison house and is out of solitaire . Daredevil sulks unhappily through his non - superhero existence , and Iron First brood for eight consecutive episodes . While we are given little patch of hope toward the end ( mostly for Jessica ) , there seems to be a much morose air to Marvel ’s Netflix depict , even by their banner . If you ’re have tired of Marvel ’s insistence to featurea quip every eight seconds , this could be the antidote . We do n’t know if this is a sign of thing to come , but we can dream .
Elektra Complex
We were all happy thatElektrawas resurrected , but there are right smart too many interrogation surrounding her character . In a flashback during the miniseries , it was percipient that she was with Stick in his vendetta against the Hand . She , of course , by and by killed Alexandra and became its drawing card , hoping to use Iron Fist to destroy New York . Why ? We have no idea .
Elektra ’s full blackguard turndefinitely move Daredevil ; she made it clear that they would always be on opposite sides despite loving each other . In turn , he choose to die with her to ensure the Hand would n’t win and to , in some direction , be with her in the only way their lifetime alternative would permit : demise . As far as romantic gestures go , there have been bad , but we ca n’t think of any off the top of our heads .
WithDaredevilseason 3going into product soon , there are two major questions we have : did Elektra outlast too ? And how will Matt deal with the fallout of her Resurrection of Christ , treason , and possible 2nd death ? give how darkThe Defenderswas , we ’re guessing he wo n’t be taking things in pace .
How will theBorn Againadaptation be affected byThe Defenders?
Like we sound out , The Defendersgot dark . Recently , it was tease thatDaredevilseason 3 will accommodate Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’sBorn Againstory , which is easily one of the darkest stories in theDaredeviloeuvre . Of course , the Netflix translation is going to have to be different . In the comics ’ version ofBorn Again , Ben Ulrich is alive , Karen Page is a diacetylmorphine addict , and the Kingpin is at large . In the show , Ulrich ’s utter , Karen ’s doing amercement , and the Kingpin is in jail .
Part ofBorn Again ’s pathos came from Murdoch being isolate from everyone he make out as Kingpin ’s machination cause him to drift into paranoid instability . However , with Matt widely presumed dead , when we pick up with him in season 3 , he ’ll already be keep apart , and with Kingpin in prison house , he ’s technically safer from Daredevil now than he was out in the world . However , with his acquaintance just a phone call away , it ’ll be interesting to see how Matt Murdoch ends up penetrate out in this version of the iconic comic arc .
Does anyone listen to Trish’s radio show?
Even the most ardentRon & Fezfans must admit that , yes , telecasting killed the radio set star ( and then smartphones and social medium killed them both ) . But beyond that , who listens toTrish Talk ? And what variety of show is it ? We ’ve seen Trish dispense advice . We ’ve also seen it as a regular talk show . Now , it ’s also a vaguely political news show show where Trish blab out on about the earthquake with no other information other than that it happen . She then rip callers a unexampled one for not agree with her interpretation of issue , which she ca n’t show are right because she does n’t have it away anything more than anyone else .
By the end of the miniseries , Trish Talkthen confirms the concealment - up variation of consequence about the earthquake and the destruction of the Midland Square edifice . So … itisa news program ?
Is the Hand closed forever?
WithMadame Gaobeing the last of the Hand to survive ( wethink ? Murakami could have survived as well ? ) and with probably only a handful of their ninja army left standing , if we have n’t envision the last of the chemical group forever , then it will still likely be a recollective clock time before they ’re ready to start making movement again . But that does n’t mean we wo n’t be hear from Ms. Gao . She ’s close tied to Danny Rand ( and how gratifying was it to see an old lady kick his nookie a little ? ) and has a much better understanding of his past than he does .
Toward the end ofThe defender , we got the indication that the questions we have about the Hand would be further research in the 2d season ofIron clenched fist , though it ’s unlikely they ’ll again be the main threat the paladin face going intoPhase 2 .
Where is Mariah?
In the first episode , Claire references thatMariahhas been maintain a downcast visibility — like she ’s much disappeared . This coincides with another major Hand extremity , Sowande , recruit untried men from Harlem to work for the Hand , with the implication being that the Hand has centered law-breaking in New York under their auspices in their final attempt atcollecting the dragon bonesso they can habituate their mysterious earthquake machine . Or something . ( Man , could somebody havetriedto explain the plot ? )
Luke Cagewas really interested that Mariah was ostensibly in hiding . Not only did this mean there was a novel player lay down move , but hump Mariah as well as he does , he knows that she is n’t necessarily hiding . She ’s waiting and planning . As long as she and Shades are still out there , they ’re likely formulating some form of secret plan .
Who’s going to fill the power vacuum in Harlem now?
With Sowande beheaded and Mariah and Shades in the wind , there ’s going to be a power conflict over Harlem . It would make gumption thatMariah and Shadeswould but take the air back in , but that would n’t be very exciting and could lead to a retreading ofLuke Cageseason 1 . It would be more audacious to have Mariah and Shades on the outskirt of the story , while a new villain make life hell for Luke in the lag .
There are some interesting pick to pace up as season 2 ’s antagonist . Bushmaster(they’dprobablyhave to change that name , correct ? ) is a Caribbean crime boss ; maybe he want to give up aFrench Connection - type pipeline in New York . Luke Cagecould also conform Gideon Mace . A former soldier , he could represent “ the man ” that coop likes to confront down , maybe as someone who want soldierlike law in Harlem and is connected to the IGH organization or Doctor Burnstein . Whoever takes restraint of Harlem ’s underground should be new .
Where’s K’un-Lun?
Normally , we would make the joke that the full city ofK’un - Lunis actually just avoid Danny Rand , but the poor , " thunder dumbass " ( asStickwould say ) has necessitate enough abuse in this clause already . The Defendersestablished that K’un - Lun would return as part of the Hand ’s prophecy — in return for the destruction of New York or something about the Black Sky or something . Again , a lot of this was left vague .
In the comics , K’un - Lun had a heavy tartar population . AsThe Defendersestablished , there are dragon bone beneath New York . While their identity element were n’t corroborate , they are probably the bones of Chiantang and Shou - Lao ( the cousin-german ofDrogon , Viserion , and Rhaegal ) . With these clues establishing a connection between New York and K’un - Lun , it ’s probable that season 2 ofIron fistwould reply the head of why K’un - Lun cut them .
