Well, someone mentioned the Order. Might work, if it was an "order of the strange" or something. The Knights is leftover, but fits less well and isn't particularly snappy. Champions is taken I think, but it has a nice superhero feel to it, like Avengers, Guardians and the Defenders do. Midnight Sons again lacks punch, and doesn't work all that well. The Fearless might work... it would be kind of hilarious to use the Ultimates for a 616 book or a movie, but the classic Defenders kind of ARE the ultimate heroes power-wise in the Marvel Universe, so that actually could work. The Annihilators perhaps? I mean, the Guardians of the Galaxy already full the cosmic Avengers role. They could steal the name of the Beyonder and call them the Beyonders? Or even go super obvious and call them the Strangers. He'll, even the Liberators or the Heralds could work.
There are a lot of super teams in the Marvel U, but they're pretty distinct, so it makes it difficult to swap names around. Which is what Marvel Studios is going to do, so it's a bit weird altogether. But the running list of potential rebrands for the classic Doc Strange-led Defenders are:
The Order (of the Strange)
The Knights
The Champions
The Midnight Sons
The Fearless
The Ultimates
The Annihilators
The Beyonders
The Strangers
The Liberators
The Heralds
Hasn't Marvel tried Annihilators, Champions and the Order already, and failed?
Too bad, because I liked them all (well maybe not the Order too much...).
Yeah, that's the idea. The basic premise is that the street level team version of the Defenders from the future Netflix show will likely filter into the comics, but either way, calling what is essentially the Knights the Defenders means one of the other names has to be transferred if you still want the original concept to exist in either the 616 or MCU. So I was listing mostly old team names that could be repurposed for a paranormal Marvel super team. Hence those ones already having been used, as I figure shuffling the names means this would be what they do if they ever want a classic Defenders team again.
Rereading the Larsen/Busiek (Frenz/Duffy/Smith/Haley/et al) Defenders/Order and still can't believe how hard some people hated on that run. Some still do.
Amazing, really nicely experimental, rewarding, solid comics. From the pencils to the colors to the gags and characters, there's nothing I don't just love about those eighteen issues. Hulk sitting patiently in stupid red ball to suckerpunch Dr. Strange. The new Valkyrie's nutty parents. The ongoing fight with Attuma's army. And, Larsen's redesigns, the style he used on those comics, is a kind of superhero-perfect style. Broad, big, cartoony, with slightly large and emotive faces and great body language.
If Kurt Busiek had brought back Nancy Brown somehow, it might have been my favorite Marvel storyline of all time. It's just that close.
But nobody else liked it. Or, something.
Patsy Walker on TV! Patsy Walker in new comics! Patsy Walker in your brain! And Jessica Jones is the new Nancy! (Oh, and read the Comics Cube.)
I think the MIghty Avengers have SORT OF taken over the niche the old Defenders had.
Though really, who knows if the Mighty Avengers will be around after Secret Wars. I think the Marvel Knights Defenders conept is essentially going to take that out along with the classic Defenders one in one swoop.
I LOVE that run. Certainly my favorite Defenders revival ever (I did like the Giffen/ DeMattis/ McGuire funny one and a couple of the others). Busiek and Larsen managed to capture prtically everything that made the original run unique and great. I wish so hard that Marvele would launch a Complete TPB collection of it. It'd be awsome.
Peace
Yeah, that run was definately a lot of fun.
I think some may have disliked it because it was different and arguably not terribly flattering to the Defenders in some ways (it maybe oversold the notion that they didn't get along a bit) ... but it was funny and a little weird and something different. I was definately sad it didn't stick around.
I would love to see some DEFENDERS moment in the upcoming Dr. Strange MCU movie...at least inviting some of the Netflix heroes, bring in Mark Ruffalo and add in the Valkyrie from Thor and have a LIVE ACTION Defenders moment in the MCU.
I think the problem is a lot of the old school Defenders pieces aren't there yet. Check on Hulk and Strange. But no Surfer or Namor. And I'm not sure Val exists either... though we have Sif.
From what I understand I believe Hellcat will be introduced in Jessica Jones, for what it's worth.
One thing I didn't really understand, at the time of release, was how much the homage to the Defenders/Avengers War, in Milligan's X-Statix, really was a direct comparison to how innately wonky, loose, and nakedly socially-conscious/political The Defenders was during pretty much its entire run, and where the Milligan/Allred comic was in its era at Marvel.
It's sad that, aside from a few jabs here and there, there really isn't a title like that Marvel anymore. Someday, again, sure, but right now?
The Defenders, as a title, is set for use on the combined heroes from Marvel's Netflix series, though Patsy Walker is showing up there.
Patsy Walker on TV! Patsy Walker in new comics! Patsy Walker in your brain! And Jessica Jones is the new Nancy! (Oh, and read the Comics Cube.)