5 Ways That Marvel Can Improve Their Netflix Shows

2017 was an embarrassment of riches where superhero adaptations were concerned, and 2018 looks set to top even those dizzying heights. Just looking at Marvel, we've got Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp. And that’s not even counting their Netflix shows! This year, we’ll be reacquainted with Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Daredevil in their second and third seasons respectively. Moreover, it’s going to be very interesting to see how these heroes deal with the aftermath of The Defenders. But whilst we eagerly await these series – and their mature take on caped crusaders – we can’t help but admit that 2017 was something of a stumbling block for the superheroes of Netflix. For all the grit and timeliness of The Punisher, several factors ensured that neither The Defenders or Iron Fist managed to inspire that much enthusiasm in fans. How can Marvel and Netflix get their mojo back, then? What can they do to get their superhero shows on track once more? Well, let’s take a look, shall we? 1) Stop Killing Villains Unlike their maligned movie fellows, Marvel’s TV villains are chillingly compelling foes. Of course, this is mainly due to them being played by titanic talents. Mahershala Ali, Sigourney Weaver, David Tennant – their craft and care ensures that Cottonmouth, Alexandra, Kilgrave et al. are fleshed out and highly memorable. Netlifx really hasn’t missed a step where their casting is concerned. However, if we reach another season's midway point and find the villain dying, then Netflix will have made a grave mistake indeed. Look, this isn’t to say that show execs can’t, or shouldn’t, kill villains off full-stop. Unique and unpredictable storytelling is a fantastic quality in a series. But, having villain number three die midway through a season is precisely why Netflix shouldn’t opt for it again. Admittedly, two cases of villain-offing (Cottonmouth and Alexandra) doesn’t signify a trend in the making. However, look what happened to Luke Cage when they attempted to substitute Cottonmouth for Diamondback halfway through the show. Not only did the story lose a lot of its momentum by switching gears, but it also lost a hugely charismatic presence that couldn’t be replicated. It didn’t help that Diamondback was a jarring and goofy replacement for the icy ferocity of Cornell Stokes. And yup, Elektra is a far more developed and interesting character than Diamondback. However, even the latter half of The Defenders takes time to recover from her sudden murder of Alexandra. In short: keep the brilliant baddies around a little longer, and Netflix might just stick the superhero landing again. 2) Kick Ass, But More Efficiently The Marvel/Netflix shows may be gritty character studies, but we wouldn’t love them as much without their alleyway (or corridor) brawls. However, it’s been two years since Daredevil and Frank Castle dished out some quite frankly jaw-dropping beatdowns in Daredevil season 2. Aside from several notable moments in The Defenders, there’s been very little in the way of truly electrifying showdowns since. So, why are these kinds of moments becoming scarcer? We get it: action scenes are expensive and tricky to film. But when Iron Fist – a show about a kung-fu prodigy – features fights that aren’t all that inspiring, you know that something’s amiss. Of course, this was partly due to the show's tight shooting schedule. The Defenders began production long after, meaning that Finn Jones had very little time to train for his first shot as Danny Rand. Even so, this demonstrates how little consideration has being given to these key scenes over the last few years. The fact of the matter is that these character’s powers lend so much potential to these stories. From Daredevil’s radar-sense to Jessica Jones’ limited flight, honing on in these iconic abilities in fight scenes could really make the Marvel/Netflix shows stand out. Moreover, given enough resources and planning time, a great choreographer would be able to turn these prerequisite punch-ups into something truly special. 3) Planning Makes Perfect The fluid inter-connectivity of Marvel’s movies is the hard-earned result of decades' worth of pre-planning. For all of the small errors here and there, the Marvel Cinematic Universe appears as an efficiently cohesive, detailed world. Characters hop from film to film, and stories evolve organically. The same cannot always be said for the Netflix heroes. Take the first few episodes of The Defenders for example. An awful lot of time is devoted to picking up where each of the solo shows left off. As great as it to see our favorite vigilantes back in action in their stomping grounds, the writers clearly had to put a lot of work into maneuvering them into suitable positions for the story at hand. A bit more pre-planning would be hugely beneficial in this regard. Moreover, it would help any inter-show crossovers to feel more natural, such as in the rumored second season of The Defenders. Plus, it will allow for terrific new stories to be told, which change and shape the wider Marvel/Netflix world. Sure, the shows all feel alike with their similarly grungy Manhattan, but it's strange how inconsequentially huge events - such as Kingpin’s bombings – are rendered within the context of The Defenders. It’s even stranger when we consider that all of the characters operate only a few blocks away from each other as well. With the “culmination” of The Defenders now out of the way, there’s a chance that there’ll be a greater amount of synergy between the shows - in front of, and behind, the camera. Indeed, Iron Fist is already set to appear in Luke Cage season 2, which may hint at even more cross-pollination to come in the Marvel/Netflix world. 4) Get To Grips With The Wider MCU Are the Defenders really a part of the MCU? If so, when are they going to appear in the Avengers movies? And, is Tom Holland’s Spider-Man going to team up with ol’ Horn Head and take down Fisk in the next season? These are much debated topics for audiences. It’s been three years since the Netflix shows began, and aside from occasional references to “the big green dude” and Justin Hammer’s weaponry, there’s been little in the way of those crossovers that we were promised. This hasn’t been hugely detrimental to these shows, though. Moreover, The Punisher barely features any inter-world connections and still manages to tell a rich and compelling story without relying on references. However, it is getting to the point where passing lip-service to iron suits isn’t going to cut it anymore. At what point in the MCU timeline does Daredevil’s showdown with Fisk take place? A year after The Avengers? No one knows. Plus, the lack of Defenders references from the movies are conspicuous by their absence. Surely S.H.I.E.L.D. would have a use for someone like Matt Murdock? It might be down to the notoriously fractious relationship between the movie and TV divisions. Perhaps it’s the logistics of getting stars and storylines aligned, since films and shows are made at wildly different speeds. Maybe it’s Marvel not wanting a backlash from parents if their kids Googled the decidedly mature Netflix shows (the Kingpin car-door scene is easy to find on You Tube). Yet whichever reason it is, a meet-up of Marvel’s TV and movie heroes is (sadly) probably never going to happen at this point. This isn’t the end of the world of course. We’ve had great television and movies to enjoy regardless. Nevertheless, it’s still a sad thing to realize after all the hype. So, it’s make or break time: are they in the same world, or not? If they are, then double down on the MCU connections and have each respective character react to the goings on of the wider world, as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. did. If not, then have the Netflix shows disconnect from the world of the Avengers in a meaningful way. Be free to go shake off the mainstream MCU and barrel down some captivating new avenues that really push the boundaries of superhero television. Because, let’s face it, the repeated references to "the incident" are really getting old now. 5) Shorten The Series And thus we arrive at the most pervasive problem that plagues the Netflix shows: they’re just too long. Not the episodes themselves, it’s that pesky thirteen-episode structure that’s the main culprit. Regardless of what theme each show is exploring, at their hearts they’re superhero stories, right down to their adrenaline-fuelled needs. That isn’t to say they can’t be deep or cerebral (these shows have frequently proved that it’s possible), but they do need that burgeoning, dramatic tension to keep them chugging along. Unfortunately, because of their structure, the Marvel/Netflix shows can’t sustain this drive for the time that they’re required to. Even the best of these series are forced to tread water for some period of time, be it the opening episodes of The Punisher or those where Kilgrave’s imprisoned in Jessica Jones. When this happens, the bloat sets in and the show grinds to a halt. Again, it’s not that we don’t love spending time with characters like Jessica Jones. But if the show around them suffers for it, then something’s got to give. And that something is the series' length. All in all, plenty of square-eyed superhero fans are eagerly anticipating the returns of Jessica Jones and Matt Murdock in the coming months. And there’s certainly a lot to love in these shows, from their compelling characters to their cool costumes. But there’s always room for improvement, and we can only hope that the bosses at Marvel and Netflix take note of these problems so that their series return to their former glory once more.