Defenders Unite August 18th

[Iron_Legion87]

I didn't like the series. It had it's good moments, ep 1-2 were quite bad but starting ep3 things pick up speed. But then the plot just derails by the last eps.

The ending was pretty lame imo.

Iron Fist was probably the worst of the bunch yet again. After wanting to see them together for so long, I now don't want to see them together ever again. I'll take solos from DD, JJ and LC. But keep IF away from them

It seems a lot of reviews are saying the first two episode are pretty bad mostly due to them spending time introducing each character for those that for some reason or another haven't seen the solo shows. I am still looking forward to binge watching this tonight/ over the weekend.

[Batman#22]

EPISODE 4 AND 5 SPOILERS!!!

I liked how Luke and Jessica's criticism is colliding with Matt and Danny's mystical connection. Jessica pissed me off when she said Daredevil's costume was lame, so I'm glad that Luke and Danny feel deferintely when they said they thought his billy club was cool. I liked how Stick violently beheaded the pimp looking guy. It's nice to see Elektra slowly coming out of it. The restaurant fight scene was cool and it was nice to see Alexandra slowly loosing control of the Hand. I also loved how Stick talked about the Hand's origin and how they compared them to Lucifer being kicked out of Heaven.

[KabutoRyder]

I loved it.
Loved the interactions and cast chemistry.
Danny actually did some fighting, and good looking fighting.
When the Hand member was killed and when Elektra killed Alexandra, those moments literally dropped my jaw
Chuckled at the mini team fighting tracking shot in the cave.
Thought the DD death was cool, but hell we already knew there was a 3rd season coming so it took a bit of the teeth out of doing that kind of ending.
Loved Gou.
Loved that the Hand members in chief got their hands dirty and fought the heroes.
And after teasing it in Luke Cage we finally get Misty getting that arm

[Punisher007]

It was, underwhelming:

-The Hand's master plan kind of sucked in the end. That's "strike three" as far as making them interesting/menacing in the MCU for me, I don't care about them anymore.
-Sigourney Weaver's character ended being really disappointing to.
-Danny still sucks.
-Wasn't a fan of what they did with Elektra.
-Certain other plot-threads/characters didn't pay off either.
-The team dynamic overall was underwhelming.
-Etc.

On the flip side, forget a Luke/Danny spinoff, I want a Matt/Jessica spinoff. Because their dynamic was actually fun.

Overall, not really worth all of the buildup imo.

[Batman#22]

Episode 6 and 7 SPOILERS!!!

Things are really starting to heat up. I loved how Iron Fist fought the Defenders. The way his fist sent shockwaves as he hit Luke that rattled the furniture made that scene the best fight in the season. I thought it was cool how Iron Fist was revealed to be the key to some mystical portal. I thought it was funny when Danny wind about being the prisoner. I was shocked to see how Stick betrayed the Defenders by drugging Cage and almost killing Danny, but I was even more shocked when Elektra went full on Dark Side by killing Stick, capturing Danny, and then most shocking of all, killing Alexandra. Personally I think that was a huge mistake, just like when they killed off Cotton Mouth. It was cool to see Elektra take control of the Hand. I also liked the heart to heart Stick had with Luke when he said that he knew what it was like to be imprisoned. It was a nice turn of events when the Defenders got arrested when they were K.O. It's too bad that they had to become fugitives just to help save the day. Also, I am just now realizing that Kun Lun population was apparently slaughtered by the Hand.

[Twickster]

Liked it overall. Both Daredevil series, Jessica Jones and Luke cage were better overall, but still very good. As always, its very hard to top Iron First on awfulness.

Tighter story, but it had to make up for that with major plot holes, which would have taken the other series' entire storylines to resolve. But I understand they had to do it this way because of the multiple characters.

Iron First looked *much* better at fighting, he's actually a credible martial artist now. SPOILER: He's still insufferable however, in particular the later episodes where he's to blame for *everything* that goes wrong, and there's no indication that he even realizes or experiences growth from it. But it's Iron Fist, so what do you expect?

Luke, Jessica and Matt were awesome.

[Kuznec]

I can not believe that Sigourney Weaver is so old, looks like Gandalf.

[KabutoRyder]

That elevator greenscreen work...maaaan that was Warehouse 13 bad in many spots.

[Iron Fist]

It was, underwhelming:

-The Hand's master plan kind of sucked in the end. That's "strike three" as far as making them interesting/menacing in the MCU for me, I don't care about them anymore.
-Sigourney Weaver's character ended being really disappointing to.
-Danny still sucks.
-Wasn't a fan of what they did with Elektra.
-Certain other plot-threads/characters didn't pay off either.
-The team dynamic overall was underwhelming.
-Etc.

On the flip side, forget a Luke/Danny spinoff, I want a Matt/Jessica spinoff. Because their dynamic was actually fun.

Overall, not really worth all of the buildup imo.

I was also really underwhelmed by the master plan by episode 8.

My prediction was they were going to use the portal thing from Immortal Iron Fist as a backdoor into K'un L'un where they'd steal more of the stuff Yu Ti has which gives immortality, it keeps changing, I think they were golden apples most recently. That's what I was expecting once we knew there was a Iron Fist chi gate, and it turned out to be some bones or some random ass dragon that isn't Shou Laou? The bones of a dragon give immortal life? That's just dumb.

[Twickster]

They really should have made it a portal. It would have made sense, and would have even allowed a built-in reason for Matt's escape at the end.

I agree the end plan was really underwhelming. Plus, the Hand Masters kept on attacking in person, when in fact they should have kept back and sent wave after wave of soldiers. Which they couldn't, because in the end they only had 30 or so.

Basically, the Hand were not really that threatening. You felt more of the omnipresent menace with Kingpin; which if you're doing the Hand properly really shouldn't be the case.

[Iron Fist]

They really should have made it a portal. It would have made sense, and would have even allowed a built-in reason for Matt's escape at the end.

I agree the end plan was really underwhelming. Plus, the Hand Masters kept on attacking in person, when in fact they should have kept back and sent wave after wave of soldiers. Which they couldn't, because in the end they only had 30 or so.

Basically, the Hand were not really that threatening. You felt more of the omnipresent menace with Kingpin; which if you're doing the Hand properly really shouldn't be the case.

I had a real issue with the lack of Ninjas, in daredevil they had robes and katanas and stuff, then once Nobu dies they're all just dressed like yakuza? Did Nobu enforce a dress code?

They did make an agreement to fight in person because their lackies kept getting their asses beat.

Some things that bothered me in episode 8

- Jessica drops the elevator, nothing comes of it. We don't even hear a crash or have Elektra or DD acknowledge it. The only thing they acknowledge is when the building collapses down the tunnel.
- How the hell Daredevil escape from under 100 feet of depris without the help of search and rescue?!
- We don't know if Gao is dead, we assume the elevator fell next to her and killed her with impact radius we don't know.
- if Matt survived, did Elektra? She's way more durable than he is.
- If they can escape the debris, why can't next hand members just use the same route for mining operations for the bones? Doesn't feel like the problem is solved if Daredevil can just escape the 100 foot of rubble.
- What happened to all the other hand ninjas? Bakuto had hundreds if not a few thousands in Iron Fist when he said there were a few campuses like the New York one. Where'd those guys go?
- Why did the Hand assume Elektra would come back empty when Meachum came back 80% the same?
- What the hell is a Black Sky anyway? What is it's purpose? Is it just Perfect Death?

Yeah episode 8 really let me down with not answering half of these plot holes. 1-7 was great though.

[Batman#22]

EPISODE 8 SPOILERS!!!

An epic ending to an epic mini series. I loved the fight between the Defenders against Lady Gao and her fellow Lieutenants. That fight kick ass. As for the final episode, I thought it was really good but had it's flaws. I don't like how the Defenders created their own 9/11 just to bring down the Hand. That would have obviously have had disastrous results if they told it in more realistic detail. I was shocked at how Misty had her arm cut off by what's is face. I also liked how that one fight in the middle where the camera was showcasing all the Defenders fighting the had that it was a spoof of The first Avengers movie where the Avengers are fighting the Chitauri while working together as the camera shows them one by one. I also loved the fight between Daredevil and Elektra. Even though it was odd having Elektra as the bad guy, she really did a good job at it. I loved how Daredevil "sacrificed himself" to save the Defenders. I was expecting Misty to get a robot arm like in the comics, and I was not disappointed. I also loved how the cliffhanger at the end shows Murdock at the church/orphanage as a nod to Born Again. I really hope they adapt that story in the third season of Daredevil.

I give this show 4.5 stars out of 5.

[Qwerty]

So then why didn't they call it the Protectors

[Vworp Vworp]

Pretty much your standard Marvel Netflix show. X episodes of slow build up with a couple of good moments leading to a meh finale.

Random Thoughts:

- Can we have a Daughters of the Dragon series please. Colleen's been the best thing about both Iron Fist and now Defenders.
- Who thought on a series about people coming back from the dead in a universe where people repeatedly come back from the dead where one of the characters involved had only recently come back from the dead that an exciting, moving finale would be thinking that two characters might be dead?
- The Jessica nerfing continues. Made worse by Luke's presence who got to do most of the heavy lifting - with one literal exception. But that's the point. The elevator bit was so cool, why only showcase Jessica's strength once? I know they wanna play up her reluctant hero angle (sometimes to a fault) but what's the point of her even being in it if half the time she's only there to be all snarky and be a bit rubbish in fights.
- Alexandra might the single most superfluous antagonist in any MCU related TV/Movie we've seen so far.
- So Elektra is a straight up villain? Or is still corrupted? Or was like that all along? Or is... what now?
- There was some seriously dodgy greenscreen stuff in that lift. It was like watching 70's Doctor Who.
- What was up with that random hip-hop track during the big fight?

[Iron Fist]

- Who thought on a series about people coming back from the dead in a universe where people repeatedly come back from the dead where one of the characters involved had only recently come back from the dead that an exciting, moving finale would be thinking that two characters might be dead?

Well they did say they'd run out of resurrection resources, so mortality was the only way. Something I never understood was why Weaver's character didn't have a stash for herself she seemed rather calculating in every other capacity.

- The Jessica nerfing continues. Made worse by Luke's presence who got to do most of the heavy lifting - with one literal exception. But that's the point. The elevator bit was so cool, why only showcase Jessica's strength once? I know they wanna play up her reluctant hero angle (sometimes to a fault) but what's the point of her even being in it if half the time she's only there to be all snarky and be a bit rubbish in fights.

I don't think she was nerfed, she was more side lined. There's a few occasions where Jessica moves heavy stuff usually in the background of shots, but they did use Luke a lot more for strength feats which was a bit dull considering he gets a lot of the screen time already.
I think it makes sense she's rubbish in fights, she's not trained and she's fairly vulnerable unlike Luke who can be a big blunt instrument all he wants and not be affected by anyones blows unlike Jessica who has fairly low durability and no training.