Defending THE DEFENDERS

Article first published as TV Review: THE DEFENDERS on Seat42F.

You may have been waiting impatiently for years now for Netflix’s Marvel’s THE DEFENDERS, the small screen version of the Avengers team-up. After all, the first series in the build-up, Daredevil, was released back in the spring of 2015. Through Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, a second season of Daredevil, and yes, even the less-lauded Iron Fist, fans of the Marvel Universe have been lapping up the installments, waiting eagerly for these D-list (see what I did there?) heroes to come together. But just because THE DEFENDERS finally went public today doesn’t mean the wait is entirely over.

THE DEFENDERS is an eight-episode miniseries, and thus takes its time getting to what the fans want: the four primary characters meeting one another. Instead, episode one is all about checking in with where our people are and meeting the villain. It isn’t until late in episode two that any of the quartet run into one another, and it’ll be later still before they get together as a group.

I like this waiting strategy more than I thought I would. Yes, I would rather THE DEFENDERS had arrived earlier. But now that I’ve begun watching, I want the story to progress naturally. It takes time for the story to weave each individual together, and that’s OK. That’s how it’s supposed to work.

Danny Rand, a.k.a. Iron Fist (Finn Jones) is seen first, kicking off the event with an action-packed battle in the sewers. Although we don’t see the face of his shadowy opponent, we do know who she is, which will become clear soon enough. He and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) are still hunting The Hand, and their mission, while starting overseas, soon brings them back to New York.

Danny isn’t the only one on a mission. Luke Cage (Mike Colter), fresh out of prison, begins looking after a kid around his neighborhood that needs help. Meanwhile, Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) takes a case that leads her to encounter the same mysterious woman from the opening. This isn’t a surprise, because it shouldn’t take the audience long to figure out that all three investigations are leading to the same central baddie. They are well woven, and this is the primary reason I’m fine with THE DEFENDERS taking a while to bring its leads together.

In fact, even as other characters like Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), Misty Knight (Simone Missick), and Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss) cross worlds, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) is the hold-out outsider. Having rejected the mantel of Daredevil and busy with pro bono legal cases, he’s the one remaining unaware of what’s happening. This will not last, as the end of the second hours reveals, but it’s cool to have someone not falling into the pattern that the others do.

I have to admit, upon realizing that The Hand would be the villains in THE DEFENDERS, I wasn’t very excited. After all, Iron Fist, though not as terrible as some have claimed, is the weakest link, and its recently-released season featured The Hand prominently. Yes, they also appeared in Daredevil, too. But why bring over the criminals from the series no one liked?

That feeling goes away the moment we meet Alexandra (the great Sigourney Weaver), a woman so formidable that even Madame Gao (Wai Ching Ho) cowers before her. Alexandra does much with few scenes and few lines, a great presence that instantly makes The Hand interesting again. She exudes danger as much as she does gravitas, and she is the perfect foe for this adventure.

Two hours in, I am hooked. While not as powerful in its messaging as Jessica Jones or Luke Cage, it is much more gripping than Iron First or Daredevil, and its fewer number of episodes makes for a carefully-plotted, well-paced miniseries. It balances the faces we want to see with the story that needs to be told, and somehow combines the tonality of all of the series it brings together. It even finds a way to make the unavoidable fight between heroes caused by a misunderstanding work. It’s been worth the wait, and I plan to savor the remaining installments. I recommend you do the same.

THE DEFENDERS is available today on Netflix.

Sweet Christmas, It's LUKE CAGE

Article first published as LUKE CAGE Review on Seat42F.

Highly anticipated, MARVEL’S LUKE CAGE hits the Netflix streaming service this week. The spin-off is fronted by the character introduced in last year’s Jessica Jones, and follows him as he hides out in Harlem, working cash jobs under the table, trying to stay off the radar. What will it take to pull Luke back into fighting criminals in the city he loves? You’ll have to watch to find out.

Mike Colter takes Luke, a supporting player in the previous series, and immediately proves why this guy deserves his own show. Bulletproof and nearly indestructible, Luke is essentially a gentle giant, avoiding violence as much as possible. He will stand up for those that need it when he sees injustice cross his path, but he’s certainly not seeking it out, preferring to live a quiet life of (mostly) solitude.

While that description in of itself is not unique, as it can be applied to Jessica Jones as well, the way Colter’s Cage is depicted is something different. You will very occasionally hear his signature phrase “Sweet Christmas!” but usually he glowers quietly. Colter can convey a lot with a glance, and he radiates a complex character with many layers. Cage is the most magnetic of the recent superhero batch, and every moment he is on screen is magical.

Thankfully, the rest of the ensemble matches Colter’s level of talent. Simone Missick (The Road to Sundance) takes on the iconic Misty Knight and makes it her own, stealing the scenes that she headlines sans Cage, and proving she is capable of driving a major plot arc, too. Frank Whaley (Ray Donovan) is terrific as Misty’s partner, Scarfe, and Theo Rossi (Sons of Anarchy) is an intriguing villain sidekick, Shades. Alfre Woodward is, as usual, amazing as Mariah Stokes, a politician who may or may not be shady (and a different character than her Captain America: Civil War role). And Mahershala Ali (House of Cards) is a compelling Big Bag as club owner Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, my only complaint being he doesn’t seem nearly as old as his ‘contemporary cousin,’ Mariah.

But my favorite actor in this, aside from Colter, is Frankie Faison (Banshee, The Wire) as Pop, a de facto mentor to Luke and holder of his secret, as well as Luke’s boss. The scenes in Pop’s barber shop are among my favorite of what I’ve seen so far, providing Luke an opportunity to show other sides of himself, and also informing the neighborhood in which the show takes place. This wouldn’t work without Pop setting the tone of the place.

Speaking of setting, LUKE CAGE is undeniably Harlem. There is barely a white face on the street, with much dedicated to the soul of this area. While this is a black show, the only element it borrows from the Blaxploitation that the comic book version was born out of is the music, arguably the part that deserves to continue. Fans of the genre (or its parodies) will see the best of it in LUKE CAGE, but, soundtrack aside, it still feels like a modern show. This portrayal is very important in the current political climate, making the show timely.

My one complaint about LUKE CAGE is that it starts slow and gets boring at times. Never in Pop’s, of course, but as great as Ali and Woodard are, my mind sometimes drifts during their exposition. I assume it’s the writing, because I detect nothing wrong in their performances. But the same weakness aren’t present in the Luke and Misty scenes.

I also get why, Daredevil aside, Netflix has been skipping the traditional origin stories of its Marvel superheroes, picking up long after they got their powers. Yet, I wish we got a bit more than Luke quickly talking through his backstory, as I’d be interested in more of how he came to be the man he is.

Two episodes in, I’m not entirely sure where LUKE CAGE is going, and I do worry about the series sustaining constant energy over thirteen episodes. But I like it enough, and I am very curious as to whether Mariah will stick by cousin Cottonmouth, or if there is some idealism left in the politician. This is a fitting addition to the Netflix Marvel lineup.

MARVEL’S LUKE CAGE drops its entire first season on Friday to Netflix subscribers.