Is This Show an Improvement Over ‘Iron Fist’ ?
Now for years I’ve been a fanboy of Marvel, everything from the comics, movies, and even Marvel working with Disney. I love Marvel, and Marvel can do no wrong, unless your name is Iron Fist. Iron Fist was the last Netflix original series, and some people thought the show wasn’t that good, I personally didn’t hate it. In my opinion, it was just a bland white yogurt of a series.
These Marvel Netflix shows have all led to The Defenders. A quick synopsis for The Defenders is our four heroes, Matt Murdock a.k.a Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Danny Rand a.k.a Iron Fist, realize that they likely won’t be able to accomplish their goals of beating the villainous group known as The Hand working solo. That realization leads them to form The Defenders, stop The Hand, and save the Big Apple.
I really enjoyed how the show brought everyone together. These characters are emotionally damaged and are not use to the idea of working with new people, even though they could all benefit from working with one another. If anything, that is a really significant theme throughout the series. That even though we come from different backgrounds, and walks of life, we have the opportunity to come together as one. They even have Luke Cage talk with Iron Fist about social issues, money, politics, white privilege, law enforcement, economics, and race. Luke Cage talks about how Iron Fist has privilege, and how he is millionaire, and how they are completely different based on our society. It’s not a huge focal point, but they do bring it up as one of the themes. It’s a powerful scene, that has a message for the viewers. It really shows how these heroes are being humanized on screen, the only difference is they kick a little more ass and fight crime more than you and I are currently doing.
Iron Fist in The Defenders has more development this time around, and his goal of taking down The Hand is clearer. The Hand do not really come off as all that cold-hearted as the series is making them out to be. Speaking of The Hand, we finally get to see the five fingers of The Hand, and the people who run this organization. Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, Avatar) is the H.B.I.C. of this organization, and her performance and character development is a breath of fresh air. We’ve all seen and or heard about how Marvel has lackluster villains. Lately, Marvel villains have been on a role getting so much better, and Weaver continues that role. At times she is wicked, violent, you understand her motive, and doesn’t come off as the usual bland villains we’ve seen.
The setting and tone of this show is more of a balance between Jessica Jones and Daredevil. This is okay, but sometimes the tone of the shows makes this show feel just a tad uneven in some episodes. For instance, Iron Fist makes a couple of jokes, yet the lighting is lit like a dark depressing episode of Daredevil.
I love the shows use of color how each character has a dominant color in each of their scenes. For instance, Luke Cage’s color is yellow, so whenever he pops up on screen, you see a yellow light filter somewhere. I appreciate that little touch, and it just makes the shows overall scenery and editing, look more fun and interesting.
The action and fights are much better than the fight scenes from Iron Fist. I believe it is episode three, where The Defenders have a hallway fight. The hallway fight just looks so much fun! It’s a mosh pit of punches, kicks, and people getting clobbered. That hallway fight was my favorite, because the choreography wasn’t that shaky camera nonsense, the transitions were smooth as ice, and you can clearly tell what is going on.
I do like the show, but it is not the big build up I was expecting. I really do think Marvel has spoiled me, and I’m sure fans expect something bigger from them. I was expecting this to be the big build up with heart and tension, much like The Avengers.
Performances are well done, and the actors and actresses continue to impress. Netflix’s The Defenders works best when its central characters are bouncing dialogue off one another as everything is getting more and more hectic around them, and the way these characters interact with each other. It’s much better than Iron Fist, but still not as good, or offering anything new like Jessica Jones or Luke Cage. It’s still a fun show, can easily be binge watched, and most of my nerd juices were satisfied. I believe season one on Netflix of Marvel’s The Defenders earns a…
7 out of 10!
So those are my overall thoughts on season one. If I had to put in order my favorite Netflix Marvel shows, I would have it in this order,
- Luke Cage
- Daredevil Season 2
- The Defenders
- Daredevil Season 1
- Jessica Jones
- Iron Fist
What is your favorite MCU Netflix show? Feel free to hit me up and tell me! I’m interested in what you all have to say. Also, who do you think is more badass, Elektra or Jessica Jones?Thank you all for reading, and or viewing, and I hope you have great day and night as always. 🙂
Nile Fortner
Nile@comicattack.net
