What are critics saying about Marvel's 'The Defenders'?
Marvel's The Defenders is finally here, and according to the critics, it's worth the wait.
Mostly.
While The Defenders is plagued by some of the same issues as Netflix's earlier superhero solo series (like the pacing), it sounds like the fearsome foursome are fabulous together.
Heck, it even sounds like they've figured out a way to deal with the unpopular Iron Fist – by having the other characters constantly acknowledge that Danny Rand is kind of the worst. If it's not enough to make you love him, hopefully it's enough to make you tolerate him.
And Sigourney Weaver? It won't surprise you to hear that she's every bit as good as we'd hoped when her casting was first announced.
All the reviews below are from critics who saw the first four episodes (out of eight). What happens in the second half of the show is still a mystery, but at least now we know it gets off to a good start.
The shorter episode count is a blessing
Jeff Jensen, Entertainment Weekly:
Until now, Netflix’s Marvel series have been 13 episodes long. The producers of those shows, even the better ones, have never been able to generate enough plot to fill the time, resulting in thinly stretched, poorly paced volumes of story — they just don’t know how to vamp in compelling fashion. [...] The Defenders is eight episodes long, and damn if it doesn’t make the case that less is more.
Steve O'Brien, Digital Spy:
The Defenders' chief strength is that it's telling its story in just eight episodes, as opposed to the other series' 13. Lumpish pace and thin plotting has blighted other Marvel Netflix shows, and while this one isn't exactly breakneck (it still has the steady, unhurried canter of a cable drama), it only takes three episodes for our heroes to... erm... assemble.
Danny Rand is still the weak link
Kelly Lawler, USA Today:
From the first scene, Danny Rand/Iron Fist is an undeniable handicap. [...] So how do you build a series when three heroes are appealing, well-formed characters with strong actors behind them, but the fourth is annoying, boring and poorly acted? One would hope that The Defenders would shy away from Danny and his petulance, but unfortunately, Iron Fist is integral to the larger plot. Every scene featuring him drags, and he is in too many to ignore, with clunkier dialogue than his fellows.
Jeff Jensen, Entertainment Weekly:
And Danny Rand, a.k.a. Iron Fist, billionaire hippie and magical white savior of the mystical Easter kingdom of K’un-Lun is… tolerable. His character is central to the story — Marvel is going to make you love this guy, dammit! — and almost everything about him remains laughably dumb, from his mythology to the concept and special effect of his “iron fist.” But Finn works hard, so hard it’s actually endearing.
Susana Polo, Polygon:
I won’t say that I found Danny likable by the end of the fourth episode. But The Defenders clearly understands what it needs to do with his character to make it plausible that, say, Luke Cage would be interested in giving him the time of day, much less fight for his cause. And mostly that means having other characters call him on his bullshit constantly — and to have him listen.
Sigourney Weaver is as great as you'd expect
Jeff Jensen, Entertainment Weekly:
The Defenders is blessed by a dynamite actress and geek pop royalty: Sigourney Weaver plays Alexandra, death-defying leader of an occult underworld organization known as The Hand. She makes a generic part pop with nuanced menace and elevates everyone involved, notably Elodie Yung as the assassin Elektra.
Danette Chavez, The A.V. Club:
In Weaver’s hands, Alexandra is formidable and intriguing, swaddled as she is in what often look like really expensive duvets. Although she’s informed by other MCU villains—Alexandra shares Ronan The Accuser’s zealotry, Mariah’s poise, and Ultron’s indifference to the human condition—she’s much more than just an amalgam. She’s closer to a time lord than a hand-rubbing baddie; she’s both detached from and invested in humanity.
Alan Sepinwall, Uproxx:
As she always does no matter how outlandish the premise of her latest project, Weaver plays things straight and with abundant screen presence; the only downside is that — like Vincent D’Onfrio as the Kingpin on Daredevil — she tends to pretty badly overshadow the leads when they’re together. (The show feels most balanced in the scenes she shares with Scott Glenn, who has a similar gift for being utterly matter-of-fact about all this insanity.)
The group is ... kind of good together?
Danette Chavez, The A.V. Club:
The first half of the season is a potent mix of humor, dread, and ass-kicking. Even with Iron Fist tagging along as the annoying younger brother—who could buy and sell you and the building you live in a thousand times over—the Defenders shine as a team and as individuals (well, most of them).
Kelly Lawler, USA Today:
The Defenders will likely please devoted Marvel fans who merely want to see these four in the same room. The fight scene that finally brings them together checks all the fan-service boxes, as when Iron Fist stands behind Luke as he takes bullets. But viewers who were attracted to one or more of the Netflix series for their unique perspectives will be disappointed.
Alan Sepinwall, Uproxx:
All the Netflix/Marvel shows have been imperfect to varying degrees, and the parts of Defenders that actually, you know, feature all the Defenders are promising enough — if only for the chance to watch Jessica continually insult the others — for me to gladly watch the second half. (Which I declined to do for Iron Fist.) But it would be nice if at some point, both show and team could justify their existence as something more than a package Marvel put together years ago in the hopes everything would work out.
Matt Webb Mitovich, TV Line:
But again, just as when the Avengers first assembled, much of the joy here is seeing disparate personalities get to know each other (the Immortal Iron Fist’s dragon-costarring origin story prompts Jessica to ask if he’s “on lithium”) and reluctantly embrace the T-word — team.
It's kinda funny, but maybe not funny enough
Allison Keene, Collider:
There’s more humor, too, which at first feels a little out of place when everything else is played with such seriousness, but it’s also a major relief. These are four people with superpowers — shouldn’t somebody be having a little fun?
Steve O'Brien, Digital Spy:
What they, and the series, needs to do is to loosen up a bit. It needn't go full Joss Whedon, but The Defenders needs to know it's not The Wire – it's a superhero team-up series, and it needn't feel shy about that.
No, you don't need to have seen the other shows
Susana Polo, Polygon:
The Defenders does a great job of reminding us not only where Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Danny Rand are, but also where their supporting casts are — which is good, because in the case of some folks (like Jess and Trish and Malcom) we haven’t seen them in two years and we need the refresher.
Matt Webb Mitovich, TV Line:
Outside of a rudimentary knowledge of each character’s unique abilities, I’d only recommend a passing familiarity with DaredevilSeason 2, as relates to The Hand as an evil organization.
The Defenders Season 1 debuts on Netflix on August 18.
