Marvel Launching A New Defenders Series From Civil War II Creative Team

We already knew that it was probably on the way, but Marvel has officially announced today that The Defenders will launch this June. We’ll get our first taste of it in a Free Comic Book Day offering in May, while it’s also been confirmed that the series will reunite Civil War II creative team Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez.

Starring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, this is a very different version of The Defenders, though fans of Marvel’s TV shows on Netflix will obviously recognize the line-up. After all, it’s later this year that these heroes will assemble on the online streaming service, but this is the first time a team like this will be brought together in the comic books (past iterations of the team have been made up of the likes of Doctor Strange, Namor and the Hulk)

For more on the new series, here’s what Bendis had to say about what’s to come:

“I wanted to do a sprawling, Godfather-like epic at the street level of the Marvel Universe, really putting out hooks down and creating a modern, elaborate organized crime story that is different than what has gone before, but builds on everything that has happened to these characters, as individuals or as a team, and putting them in the hardest battle for the street that anyone can imagine.”

It’s definitely an interesting premise and one which is sure to appeal to fans, especially with The Defenders TV show on the way. Could the title’s release date point to when the show will premiere? We know that The Punisher is arriving this year at some point, but most of us assumed that it would be during the summer with The Defenders following in the fall/winter. However, it could be that it’s the other way around.

Either way, this new comic book series starring The Defenders should be well worth checking out later this year and we can’t wait to get our hands on it.