Make a new DEFENDERS team!

[Brian Adkins]

I'm sure plenty will just use a lot of the older characters, which is fine of course, but I wanted to make, at least, one that was mostly brand new!
Going on the original concept of it being a "non-team", i.e. most of them do NOT like each other and do NOT want to be on a team with them! lol Or even at all!

Talisman (Elizabeth Twoyoungmen): A magic user from the Canadian superhero team,ALPHA FLIGHT. She's the one tasked with forming this temporary group cause Dr. Strange and Clea are busy.

Namor the Sub-Mariner. Cause he's an original and a ...well, let's say jerk. lol

Storm (Ororo Munroe) Considering the history between Namor and her ex-husband, T' Challa, not to mention their different personalities, they are not going to get along.

Spider-Man (Peter Parker) His quippy, smart-alecky-constantly talking nature would definitely grate on some of the others.

Groot: It takes a lot to understand him as he only says ,"I Am Groot!", and some aren't that patient. No spell easily translates it either.

That's a solid lineup I think. Not sure what villain or problem I'd use though.
Anyway, have fun making a team!

[mugiwara]

Personnaly, I like the idea of using equivalents of the original characters.

Skaar (Hulk)
Kaluu (Dr Strange)
Namorita (Namor)
Nova (Raye) (Silver Surfer)
Dani Moonstar (Valkyrie)
Spindrifter (Clea)
Hunter's Moon (Nighthawk)

[Brian Adkins]

Personnaly, I like the idea of using equivalents of the original characters.

Skaar (Hulk)
Kaluu (Dr Strange)
Namorita (Namor)
Nova (Raye) (Silver Surfer)
Dani Moonstar (Valkyrie)
Spindrifter (Clea)
Hunter's Moon (Nighthawk)

Nothing wrong with that. Even if I don't know all of them. lol Might as well use them if no one else is going to, right?

[Pav]

I've got a few different ideas for Defenders teams, but maybe my favorite is my idea for a new "team" of Secret Defenders:

Essentially, the comic would be about an apartment complex that just HAPPENS to be rented by various supertypes -- unknowingly manipulated by Dr. Strange into living there because it contains a bunch of portals and dimensional rifts and whatnot. So the residents would secretly defend their surrounding NYC neighbors from whomever and whatever might try to enter our world and cause destruction.

Starring:

Michael "Deathlok" Collins and Family
Cloak and Dagger as newlyweds
Firestar and Turbo as roommates
Sleepwalker + Rick Sheridan (building super)
Gargoyle, as the Old Guy

...and more, including the secret residents who live in the attic and basement, respectively.

-Pav, who would focus on themes like family and community...

[Aarkus]

I've got a few different ideas for Defenders teams, but maybe my favorite is my idea for a new "team" of Secret Defenders:

Essentially, the comic would be about an apartment complex that just HAPPENS to be rented by various supertypes -- unknowingly manipulated by Dr. Strange into living there because it contains a bunch of portals and dimensional rifts and whatnot. So the residents would secretly defend their surrounding NYC neighbors from whomever and whatever might try to enter our world and cause destruction.

Starring:

Michael "Deathlok" Collins and Family
Cloak and Dagger as newlyweds
Firestar and Turbo as roommates
Sleepwalker + Rick Sheridan (building super)
Gargoyle, as the Old Guy

...and more, including the secret residents who live in the attic and basement, respectively.

-Pav, who would focus on themes like family and community...

that's a cool-ass idea and definitely leans into the psychedelic weirdness of classic Defenders stories. I picture some Escher-esque sequences where the interior of the building itself turns into a surreal, non-sensical, physics-defying space (akin to the inside of Dr. Fate's tower at that other company). I always felt Defenders were at their best when they were involved these types of stories and plots, a little off the beaten path of traditional beat-em-up "heroics"

[Aarkus]

my first inclination is to expand on the idea of the "Fearless Defenders" era of the team:

Magik for Stange
Namora (not Namorita)
She Hulk
Captain Universe (Tamara Deveaux) for Surfer
Moonstar for Val
Misty Knight for Nighthawk
Colleen Wing for Hellcat
Satana for her brother
Fraktur* for Gargoyle

for those who don't know Fraktur, she's a Maklu'an member of the Nova Corps. she defaults to her "humanoid dragon" form and doesn't use her shapeshifting to "sanitize" her appearance for anyone's "comfort". I think the idea of a so-called "ugly" or "monstrous" character who actually takes pride in their appearance, would be a nice twist on the fact that Isaac always kind of hated being stuck in Gargoyle form and saw himself as somehow "lesser" because of it. Fraktur has had a past interest in Earth on account of being a cousin to Fin Fang Foom, so the way to bring her in would probably be the realization that some idiot earthling (The Mandarin) has been mis-using Maklu'an tech stolen from her other cousin (Axxon Karr), ever since the latter crashed there and perished a few decades ago. she's particularly concerned about those rings he had been wearing, because he never did figure out the correct way of using them in concert with each other and could end up unleashing a disaster if he continues to use them so recklessly. her arrival could even be the impetus for the team forming, with the various members showing up of their own accord to investigate her activities, only to realize that they should probably be helping her out.

[Thievery]

Defenders really have a tough gimmick to make work in my opinion. Every super team has problems getting along at some point. It's just a trope of super teams. Think about members not getting along like Cyclops and Wolverine, or Captain America and Hawkeye. Many teams also have team members that hate each other, like in the various Thunderbolts teams. So the idea of a non-team really isn't exclusive to the Defenders. It's also kind of hard to make a team that hates each other stick around for an extended time. The writer would constantly be looking for reasons to keep the team together.

Because I'm going to ignore everything that I posted and I'm a hypocrite when it comes to Defenders for some reason I'll try to put together a team.

1)Captain America(Steve Rogers). I never really liked Rogers until the recent JMS series. I preferred Bucky more. But his new series has made me change my mind about him. He's a fairly easy character to choose for a leader that other members would have disagreements with.
2)Swordsman. Either the original character or a new one. I think that I would create a new one. This character would be the main $#!% stirrer.
3)Cloak. Easy to see this guy causing trouble for people.
4)Dagger. Here to be with her partner Cloak. A more stable member.
5)Magik. Can be hard to get along with, though she's not completely unreasonable just for the sake of it. Takes the place of Strange.
6)Namora. Takes her cousin Namor's place. She would be a more stable member than her cousin. May cause problems with Namor.
7)Amadeus Cho. I like the character, but he can rub a lot of people (including readers) the wrong way. The brains of our team.
8)Archangel. Just cause I like the guy. He could be a stable member or cause a lot of trouble, depending on how you choose to write him. I'd go with stable member.
9)Jackpot. She needs to be somewhere. Wouldn't cause problems for the team, but she would likely cause problems for certain readers . Could lead to stories involving Spider-Man.

Don't really have a cool premise for the team to exist. I just picked characters that I liked.

In my opinion it might be nice to see Cap on the other side of a new Avengers/Defenders war type story.

[Hypestyle]

random, and not justified by anything beyond the fact that I like them:

Blue Marvel
Dr. Voodoo
Luke Cage
Photon (two exes on the same team- yeah, I'm here for it!!!)
Cloak & Dagger
Blade
Valkyrie (Runa)

[Aarkus]

random, and not justified by anything beyond the fact that I like them:

Blue Marvel
Dr. Voodoo
Luke Cage
Photon (two exes on the same team- yeah, I'm here for it!!!)
Cloak & Dagger
Blade
Valkyrie (Runa)

swap Blade for Misty Knight and/or Colleen Wing and I'm in

[Nomads1]

Starring:

Michael "Deathlok" Collins and Family

You had me at this!

Peace

[ComicNoobie]

A random new Defenders team? Well my picks are based on nothing, more of like who'd I'd like to see more of and who could make for interesting and weird dynamics lol. This would also be in rotation so they all wouldn't be on the team at the same time together.

Valkyrie (og)
Beta Ray Bill
Ant-Man (Scott Lang)
Songbird
Beast
Brother Voodoo
Lightspeed
Puff Adder
She-Hulk
Silk
Groot
Wonder Man
James Hudson (Guardian)
Atlas

With OG guest appearances from Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor, Nighthawk, Silver Surfer and others.

The reason I added Puff Adder is I think it would be interesting to have a villain on the team trying to reform while keeping you guessing if he'll betray the team or not. And since Thunderbolts is too synergized now here would be a good spot. Could make for a fun dynamic with Songbird and Atlas, who I also put on the team but at different rotation periods.

[Brian Adkins]

I've got a few different ideas for Defenders teams, but maybe my favorite is my idea for a new "team" of Secret Defenders:

Essentially, the comic would be about an apartment complex that just HAPPENS to be rented by various supertypes -- unknowingly manipulated by Dr. Strange into living there because it contains a bunch of portals and dimensional rifts and whatnot. So the residents would secretly defend their surrounding NYC neighbors from whomever and whatever might try to enter our world and cause destruction.

Starring:

Michael "Deathlok" Collins and Family
Cloak and Dagger as newlyweds
Firestar and Turbo as roommates
Sleepwalker + Rick Sheridan (building super)
Gargoyle, as the Old Guy

...and more, including the secret residents who live in the attic and basement, respectively.

-Pav, who would focus on themes like family and community...

That is an interesting idea!

[Kaijudo]

I always like the "wtf" mismatched line-up of a Defenders team, as well as others (the original Champions and Nextwave come to mind as a couple favorites). So in that spirit...

Nighthawk - the "real" Kyle Richmond, absent for a while but back in a big way. Team founder, leader, and benefactor.
Jolt - Looking to get her groove back with a solid team. Nighthawk gets a good recommendation for her from Songbird and makes her second in command.
Slapstick - The living cartoon that can out-Deadpool Deadpool wants to prove himself as a real (albeit goofy) hero.
Absorbing Man - The redemption arc for Crusher continues. Plus, the idea of someone with his personality type having to absorb Slapstick's powers is comedy gold.
Titania - A package deal with Crusher (strangely one of the healthiest relationships in comics), and even further along the redemption path than he is. The muscle of the team.

Our core team, assembled at the start of the book. But as the first storyline continues:

Midnight Sun - The deadly space killer has been gone for a LONG time but has suddenly returned. The mystery of his return is the first storyline, ending with his joining the team.
Silverclaw - The Avengers she remembers are no more, so a visit with Jarvis results in her getting pulled into the story. She opts to stick around.
Micromax - Sent over by the Brits in relation to Midnight Sun's return, Micromax ultimately decides to stay on with Nighthawk and his team...despite not being invited.

[kcekada]

For me to care, a new team would have to include some of the classic members -- at least three -- with other former members appearing frequently as guests (non-members). Then they can tack on whoever is appropriate for the story. Build the team around the B-members: Nighthawk, Valkyrie, and Hellcat. Bring in big guns as needed. I wouldn't mind Luke Cage as regular character character since the other three may not have enough draw for an ongoing. Unless, it's another mini-series -- but those tend to get overlooked.

[Dark Soul # 7]

A few years after Civil War a lot of the classic Defenders were unavailable in their classic forms. Stephen Strange wasn't the sorcerer supreme anymore, Bruce Banner wasn't able to become the Hulk and Silver Surfer was once again the herald of Galactus. But they all had solid options for replacements, so i imagined a pretty fun Defenders line-up during that era.

Skaar: The Hulk's son with his lover Caiera from Sakaar. Basically a Hulk-style barbarian teen from space.
Firelord: My personal favourite of Galactus heralds, and one of the more heroic ones.
Doctor Voodoo: Strange's replacement as the sorcerer supreme with his own style and flair of magic.
Namor: Grabbing one of the old-school members here and I love the idea of seeing Namor butt heads with his new teammates.
Dani Moonstar: During this time Dani had regained her Valkyrie powers to deal with the Dark Avengers. That's the version I'm thinking of as the Valkyrie for this team.

That's the team. Lots of hard headed and powerful people that would barely function as a team. But if they get their act together they're damn dangerous. Like a different take on the classic Defenders team.