MARVEL’S DEFENDERS
Netflix’s partnership with Marvel has given it a rival of sorts to HBO fantasy sensation Game of Thrones. But the hotly anticipated Defenders, sadly, is not so super—weighed down by lacklustre writing and the too emo Iron Fist.
One might have hoped that Danny Rand, aka Iron Fist, would have matured a bit since critics panned the character’s standalone show as being about an overgrown child superhero. But the writers continue to give him the soppiest lines. So much so that the glee you experience when an agonisingly slow third episode looks set to culminate in a grand melee featuring Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Daredevil and Iron Fist is dashed when it emerges that the story centres around the dud hero. Note: watch the individual series first if you don’t want to be utterly lost in the rivalry between the superhero crew and the supervillain outfit (The Hand).
If only the writers had made Jessica Jones the star. The only woman in the team, she’s also the only character with any sass. The rest suffer from a chronic case of goody two shoes-ness. Daredevil is attempting to give up on his vigilante career for a legal one. Luke Cage has become an unofficial counsellor for Harlem kids gone awry. And Iron Fist is malingering away from his multimillion dollar company, Rand, instead choosing to wallow in guilt. Worse still, the cracks in The Hand are visible from the very outset. When the supervillains go down, it isn’t a nail-biting end, merely an expected one. Supervillain Black Sky’s only superpower seems to be her deadpan expression while ex-flame Daredevil continually reminds her of their past relationship. And when the fists aren’t flying, the script suffers from an unforgivable lack of punch.
It’s mandatory viewing if you’re following the Marvel saga. But it won’t win Netflix any new subscribers.