The Defenders Will Be Left On The Sidelines During Avengers: Infinity War, And Here’s Why

Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Danny Rand and Matt Murdock – four characters who won’t be appearing in either Avengers: Infinity War or its untitled sequel over the next 18 months. And for good reason.

Because despite reports to the contrary, Marvel’s film and TV franchises tend to operate on two very different tracks, even if they technically inhabit the same universe. So while members of the Defenders have alluded to the Battle of New York and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the past, there are currently no plans to incorporate Daredevil and his street-level compadres into the Marvel Cinematic Universe – not now, and perhaps not ever.

In fact, while promoting Infinity War, the film’s co-director Joe Russo explained to Premiere (h/t Heroic Hollywood) why the likes of Jessica Jones and Matt Murdock (and Frank Castle!) will remain in Hell’s Kitchen.

We have considered everything. But the trick is that we already have at least sixty characters with whom we must tell a story! And it’s hard enough to communicate with Taika Waititi, Ryan Coogler, Scott Derrickson, Peyton Reed, [Jon Watts, Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck] and James Gunn at the same time, not to add all the showrunners and TV crews to this. The latter is also led by totally different people. So it’s practically impossible. Our job is to focus on the Marvel film world and offer a satisfying climax.

Because sometimes you can really have too much of a good thing. As things stand, Avengers: Infinity War boasts more big-name characters than the last four Marvel films combined, so it should come as no surprise that Joe Russo is hesitant about adding fuel to the fire.

Besides, shows like The Punisher, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist are doing just fine, even if chances of The Defenders season 2 are reportedly slim. More on this story as it develops.