Marvel's Non-Team: The Defenders Appreciation 2023

[Reviresco]

They could but I doubt they will...they general public thinks of Hulk and Doc as Avengers, so the MCU will probably stick with that status quo.

This is true. Marvel Studios COULD have made a Namor or Hulk movie at any time .... had they wanted to share the profits with Universal. Obviously, that wasn't going to happen. But rumor says Universal may be losing those rights, so we could see movies for them. I do think a Defenders movie is more unlikely, in part because of the foolishness of using the name for the Netflix team. I could see them using the team in a Dr Strange movie, without giving them an official name.

[Reviresco]

Yeah, when I googled the Defenders show I was like..."This is more Heroes for Hire" I'm hopeful for at least a OG Defenders nod in a project. If I was Marvel Studios I would have the Defenders assemble and battle a "Universal" monster and the poster would be of Hulk smashing a planet, if you know what I mean. And I'm so happy for Beast. I hope I'll get the chance to read his run in the Defenders.

I suppose that's true. It's so weird because I hardly associate Hulk with the Avengers after reading Defenders. Hulk seemed way more natural with the chaotic nature of the Defenders coming and going, then the orderly, well organized Avengers. But I'll have to check out this "The Terror Beyond" as it sounds like a fun wink.

Hulk always will be a core Defenders member to me. In the comics, Hulk never was accepted/trusted nor felt comfortable with the Avengers, and despite his problems with the Defenders, he did recognize quite a few as his friends, especially Val. ComicNoobie, you will see this more when Omni Vol 2 comes out.

Me too. Hulk is a Defender. In the comics, he was a founding Avenger, and then an Avenger enemy, and then we never really saw him connected to the Avengers again, until the movies came out. So, for most of Marvel Comics, he wasn't an Avenger at all.

I think you would appreciate Beast in his Avenger stories more. They were a lot of fun.

[Gaastra]

Yeah, avengers treatment of the hulk was questionable in the early days. They hunted him at times. Claim to "remove" his founder status and "give" it to cap something you can't do. Sorry cap. You are not a founding member. Then when hulk was interested in joining again like in infinity gauntlet it never went anywhere. In fact, hulk only joined the fight with thanos on he wanted to be known as an avenger and get better treatment from them! It never went anywhere!

Hulk was a loose canon to the avengers! Then he spent years just down the block from avengers mansion hanging out with the defenders no trouble. Worse is some of the avengers was with him on the team like vision, wanda, and hawkeye!

It really makes the avengers look pretty bad when you look back at it.

[Phoenixx9]

Yeah, avengers treatment of the hulk was questionable in the early days. They hunted him at times. Claim to "remove" his founder status and "give" it to cap something you can't do. Sorry cap. You are not a founding member. Then when hulk was interested in joining again like in infinity gauntlet it never went anywhere. In fact, hulk only joined the fight with thanos on he wanted to be known as an avenger and get better treatment from them! It never went anywhere!

Hulk was a loose canon to the avengers! Then he spent years just down the block from avengers mansion hanging out with the defenders no trouble. Worse is some of the avengers was with him on the team like vision, wanda, and hawkeye!

It really makes the avengers look pretty bad when you look back at it.

Yes, and those same Avengers never wondered "the how" and "why" of Hulk fitting in with the Defenders, and perhaps that they not only misjudged him but mistreated Hulk.
Shame shame Avengers.

[Gaastra]

Keep in mind this was the same avengers who send a teen underage spidey to fight the hulk all alone as a "test" to get into the avengers!

[ComicNoobie]

If the Defenders were more mainstream then Hulk's membership with them would probably be more well known. I would enjoy a Defenders reunion special. Doctor Strange, Namor, Hulk, Val (Brunhilde), Silver Surfer, Nighthawk and any other member who happens to come by! A classic adventure together of them fighting some evil mystical being for old times sake and afterwards Hulk can't quit the team spouting how he hates the magician for shooting him into space and killing. It would be interesting given how different so many of them are now.

[Nomads1]

The closest we got was in Fear Itself: the Deep when Strange summoned anyone who 'was' a Defender to help out Nmaor nad the Atlanteans.

That's cool.

Peace

[Gaastra]

Do we have a list on who showed up in that issue? Nice to see blazing skull and stingray there.

[Reviresco]

According to the Marvel Fandom wiki ...

Dr. Strange (Stephen Strange) (Main story and flashback)
Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd) (Main story and flashback)
She-Hulk (Lyra) (Main story and flashback)
Loa (Alani Ryan) (Main story and flashback)
Namor (Main story and flashback)

Stingray (Walter Newell)
Son of Satan (Daimon Hellstrom)
Moon Knight (Marc Spector)
Cloak (Tyrone Johnson)
Dagger (Tandy Bowen)
Devil-Slayer (Eric Payne)
Hellcat (Patsy Walker)
Gargoyle (Isaac Christians)
Blazing Skull (Mark Todd)
Black Panther (T'Challa)
Cloud

[Reviresco]

If the Defenders were more mainstream then Hulk's membership with them would probably be more well known. I would enjoy a Defenders reunion special. Doctor Strange, Namor, Hulk, Val (Brunhilde), Silver Surfer, Nighthawk and any other member who happens to come by! A classic adventure together of them fighting some evil mystical being for old times sake and afterwards Hulk can't quit the team spouting how he hates the magician for shooting him into space and killing. It would be interesting given how different so many of them are now.

The Defenders were never what I would call mainstream -- just too quirky ... or weird. LOL!


There was a interestingly made one shot called From the Vault Defenders that came out ... the last decade, IIRC, that you might like.

[Phoenixx9]

The Defenders were never what I would call mainstream -- just too quirky ... or weird. LOL!


There was a interestingly made one shot called From the Vault Defenders that came out ... the last decade, IIRC, that you might like.

When I noticed at the end of the Avengers-Defenders War that the Defenders were a secretive group, as per DrStrange's words to Nick Fury, I liked it. But it does make it hard to integrate them with the larger Marvel Universe if no one knows them. At first, this lead to interesting stories (and fights), then after awhile, the Defenders knew a larger number of MU denizens, so their secrecy was not as prominent.

[Reviresco]

When I noticed at the end of the Avengers-Defenders War that the Defenders were a secretive group, as per DrStrange's words to Nick Fury, I liked it. But it does make it hard to integrate them with the larger Marvel Universe if no one knows them. At first, this lead to interesting stories (and fights), then after awhile, the Defenders knew a larger number of MU denizens, so their secrecy was not as prominent.

Secretive is part of it. But they also dealt with weird stuff, with characters that weren't unambiguously white hat heroes. Hulk, Namor, Son of Satan -- and those that started out as villains, like Val, Nighthawk, etc.

Plus their lack of organization / team. Most the time, it was someone calling Dr. Strange, who would say, 'let me call some friends.'

[Phoenixx9]

Secretive is part of it. But they also dealt with weird stuff, with characters that weren't unambiguously white hat heroes. Hulk, Namor, Son of Satan -- and those that started out as villains, like Val, Nighthawk, etc.

Plus their lack of organization / team. Most the time, it was someone calling Dr. Strange, who would say, 'let me call some friends.'

Yeah--and I loved those elements, lol!

I also loved when Doc would say that bit about calling some influential friends that could help out a situation. No one knew who in the world he was talking about, lol!

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I liked Ewing's take on the Defenders but they are a bit dense. I prefer Beyond because it feels more character focused. I wish it was adapted into a future season of Loki.

[Gaastra]

The new defenders were more open to the public but yeah defenders is odd. Remember toyfare made fun of them as "d-grader avengers" all the time. It's a team with hulk, surfer, namor and strange on it! Some of the most powerful heroes in the world and they are d-graders? Heck in an issue the avengers call in the defenders to deal with a demon like threat as it "may be more than the avengers can handle." Cap doesn't just do that to every team!