The Defenders are finally assembling, and our first look offers uneasy alliances — and a glimpse at Sigourney Weaver!
Our first look at The Defenders comes from Entertainment Weekly. EW was on set for the long-awaited first collision of Marvel’s reluctant, Netflix-based superheroes, and it sounds about as cacophonous as you would imagine.
Apparently, Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand all coincidentally collide on hero-business at the gigantic hole in Midland Circle. In classic Marvel-Netflix form, a tight hallway fight quickly ensues — this time, times four.
“We wanted them all caught off guard,” says showrunner Marco Ramirez of the epic meet-cute. “Once they’re in that room together, it’s kind of like, “Oh, shit, who are you?””
EW has also provided behind-the-scenes video of The Defenders cover shoot, where the actors share tantalizing details of the eight-episode series.
“I’m not entirely sure how Matt fits into the Defenders yet,” says Charlie Cox, “But I can’t wait to see how he deals with those characters. I think both Matt Murdock and Jessica Jones are quite oppinionated and quite stubborn. I imagine that would be kind of a fiery relationship — in a good way!”
Kristin Ritter agrees that her Jessica Jones is not exactly the type to play nice.
Her superstrong heroine is “very reluctant to exist in the world, let alone use her superpowers,” Ritter says. “So Jessica fits in very, again, reluctantly.”
Jessica, she says, “brings her attitude and her biting sense of humor” to the motley crew. In contrast, Mike Colter says that Luke Cage is “the most centered” member of the Defenders. Hopefully, Luke can inject some groundedness into the hot mess parade of his fellow superheroes.
The unknown property of the group is Danny Rand, whose Iron Fist series hits Netflix in March. Actor Finn Jones explains Danny’s powers as the accessing of a spiritual force, and says that “he’s the one that knows really what’s going on.”
“He knows how serious the situation is,” Jones says. “He’s the one that kind of drives the group to get shit done, really.”
So what kind of villain could drive this disparate crew to “get shit done”? As announced at New York Comic Con, Sigourney Weaver will be playing The Defenders unifying villain.
EW reveals that Weaver’s character will be called “Alexandra,” though Marvel remains mostly tight-lipped on further details.
Ramirez calls Alexandra an “utter badass,” who is “a very powerful force in New York City.”
“She’s everything Sigourney is: Sophisticated, intellectual, dangerous,” he says.
Well, the Defenders are certainly plenty dangerous. Maybe between the four of them, they can scrape up enough intellect and sophistication to match wits with Weaver.
Marvel’s The Defenders comes to Netflix in summer 2017.