As each of the five planned shows of the Netflix/Marvel partnership have arrived on our screens, their developing little corner of the MCU has become just that little bit bigger. This in turn has made trying to co-ordinate the overall ‘Defenders’ narrative that links them together just that little bit more difficult. And that’s not even taking into account the newly commissioned ‘Punisher’ series, which is currently filming in and around New York.
So far the company has rigidly stuck to the release of two shows per year, with 2015 seeing the first seasons of ‘Daredevil’ and ‘Jessica Jones’, and this year seeing the debut of ‘Luke Cage’, along with the returning second season of ‘Daredevil’. That won’t be the case in 2017 though, as a combination of fan demand and the general snowballing effect of the available material has meant that there will be three shows landing instead of the usual two. First up, viewers will finally get to see ‘Iron Fist’ unveiled in March, and then the debut seasons of ‘Punisher’ and ‘The Defenders’ have also been penciled in at some point later on in the year.
One of the key successes of the Netflix project so far has been the ability of the showrunners to consistently keep their material under wraps until each series has aired. Yes, the odd revealing set photo and a mumbled hint from an actor here and there have given the media a few news stories in advance, but each new property has managed to land and bombard the waiting audiences with totally unexpected shocks and twists, earning rave reviews and assuring big returning audience numbers in the future.
That being said, this is Marvel. And if there’s one thing that Marvel like, it’s the ability to generate a ton of free advertising by teasing a little bit of information, and then sitting back to watch the fan forums whip themselves up into a frenzy of speculation. A classic example of which has occurred today, with Jeph Loeb going online to outline how ‘The Defenders’ was slowly coming together.
The most interesting aspect of Loeb’s release was the clarification that the ensemble series would only feature 8 episodes, rather than the 11 episodes that fans have become used to in the previous solo seasons. It could be that Marvel have been listening to the small amount of criticism that has been levelled their way in relation to stretching narratives out to cover overlong seasons. Perhaps, more likely, reducing the number of episodes is the only way for the company to effectively bring all the different producers and actors together, and compress the filming in order to deliver the project on schedule.
Loeb also announced in his statement that the first two Defenders episodes will be directed by S J Clarkson, who will also act as an Executive Producer for the series. Clarkson was a key component in the delivery of ‘Jessica Jones’, and it seems the vision and ideas that made that show such a success have earned her an equally important part in the delivery of the ‘Defenders’ series. She has also directed episodes of ‘Orange Is The New Black’, and ‘Vinyl’.
The show will have 8 episodes.
‘The Defenders’ will see Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Danny Rand all coming together to defend the people of New York from a common enemy, which will most likely be recurring villain(s) The Hand. As more information about the project is released, we’ll be sure to bring it straight to you.