From Daredevil to Jessica Jones, Iron Fist to Luke Cage, we all know how much Marvel and Netflix love to stage a good ol’ corridor fight scene, but next month, both parties will be ushering New York’s finest rogues (AKA The Defenders) into a hall – a very specific hall, mind you.
We are, of course, referring to Hall H, the main attraction of San Diego Comic-Con, which returns this year over the weekend of July 20th. Most, if not all of the biggest names in entertainment will be in attendance – Game of Thrones and Westworld booked their respective place just yesterday – and Marvel is beginning to conduct its annual roll call as the company prepares to showcase its wares.
As the next two feature films on Marvel’s slate, Thor: Ragnarok and Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther will no doubt get their fair share of stage time, but closer to home, we have the impending premiere of The Defenders, Netflix’s team-up series that gathers together those four aforementioned heroes (?) as they set aside old differences in the face of a common enemy. Building on the foundations of Daredevil season 2, that adversary will take the form of The Hand, a nefarious cult of supernatural ninjas capable of bringing frenemies back from the dead (see: Elodie Yung’s Elektra). Oh, and did we mention Sigourney Weaver’s Alexandra?
Weaver’s nemesis is said to be one of the major power players of NYC, and over the course of The Defenders‘ eight-episode arc, Alexandra will no doubt put Jessica Jones and Co. through their paces.
Further story details are being kept stowed away in the Marvel vault, but with SDCC now little under a month away, it surely won’t be too much longer before we have a better idea of what to expect from Netflix’s landmark ensemble series. Until that day comes, though, Marvel has served up the next best thing: a fleeting Comic-Con promo for The Defenders that signals the return of Scott Glenn’s Stick, who delivers a grave warning to Marvel’s small-screen mascots.
“The only thing keeping Manhattan from crumbling into dust is the four of you.” All eight episodes of The Defenders will premiere via Netflix on August 18th.
