On Thursday, a lot of fun and exciting teaser trailers related the the Marvel Netflix shows were shown at the San Diego Comic Con.
Let’s talk about them one by one, in order of the show’s release date!
Luke Cage (September 30, 2016)
Power Man himself! Luke Cage and Iron Fist have one of the greatest bromances in comics, and never in a million years did I ever think we would see it realized on screen. Mike Colter returns from Jessica Jones as the quiet, unbreakable Luke himself.
The first thing I noticed in this trailer is how unashamed it is to follow the Defenders color scheme pattern (don’t worry – I will do an entire post explaining this in the near future). Everything in the trailer is yellow! I think this is great, as yellow is hardly considered a manly or badass color and they could have shied away from it entirely – but it is so closely associated with Luke Cage. After a brief conversation about Luke’s late wife, the trailer delves into one long homage to Daredevil’s hallway fight scenes, Cage style. Luke rips a car door off, and using it as an unnecessary-but-cool shield and weapon, he takes out a hallway full of armed baddies set to Old Dirty Bastard’s “Like It Raw” (keepin’ it East Coast!). The trailer ends with Luke confronting corrupt politician and Big Bad Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, telling him that he is just getting started.
I don’t know about you, but I am really looking forward to Luke Cage. I like Luke’s calm badass demeanor, I like the East Coast hip-hop feel, I like the color scheme, I like the supporting cast (Claire Temple from Daredevil and Hero-for-Hire Misty Knight, anyone?). The Netflix series have knocked it out of the park and here’s to hoping Luke is no exception.
Marvel Netflix Sizzle Reel
Now that Luke’s solo trailer is out of the way, we can tackle the Netflix sizzle reel featuring footage from both seasons of Daredevil and the first seasons of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. With the notable absence of Iron Fist aside, it feels like this is more-or-less our first real trailer for the Defenders.
This trailer – reusing footage from previous seasons – is cut well and interesting, but nothing special or new in regards to Matt Murdock, Frank Castle, Elektra Natchios or Jessica Jones; what makes it fun is the new Luke Cage footage which actually shows more of Luke’s powers and the villain Cottonmouth than the Luke Cage trailer itself. This makes it definitely worth a watch. And that scene with someone shattering their hand trying to punch an unflinching Luke Cage in slow motion? Maybe worth a second watch, too.
Iron Fist (2017)
The last thing I expected to see today was a teaser trailer for Iron Fist. I have tried time and time again to get into his comics, and failed – despite this, Danny Rand has remained one of the most consistently cool and exciting heroes for me. Plus, it’s starring Game of Thrones’ Finn Jones. Where do I sign up?
The trailer, consisting mostly of quick flashes, depicts young Danny Rand getting caught in a plane crash and ending up stranded in what one can assume are the mystical mountains of K’un-Lun. After a decade of training in meditation and martial arts, Danny returns to New York as the next legendary warrior known as the Iron Fist. (This is not depicted in the trailer, I’m filling in the blanks here). Aside from a homeless-looking Finn’s handsome face and a shot of him taking out a wall, we don’t have much to go on here – but that doesn’t make me less excited. Doctor Strange will delve into the mystical side of Marvel, and I fully expect Iron Fist to continue the tradition.
The Defenders (2017)
DAREDEVIL SEASON TWO SPOILERS
The Avengers was one of the craziest ideas committed to film. Four solo franchises teaming up in one blockbuster? Unheard of! Since it’s release, many studios have announced ten-year plans or attempted to cram as many heroes as they could in one film, trying to fast-track a cinematic universe. The closest to emulating Marvel’s success? Marvel itself. Playing the long game once again, Marvel has created the fantastic shows Daredevil and Jessica Jones. With upcoming seasons of Luke Cage and Iron Fist speeding the hype train into unmanageable levels, Marvel plans on uniting the four heroes in one large Avengers-style series The Defenders.
One question that this trailer teases is the one that has been burning on my mind since The Defenders was announced: who will be their villain? Kingpin is highly entertaining, but seemed too small for a group this powerful. Kilgrave also seemed unlikely given the circumstances of his Jessica Jones exit. Comic villains like Mephisto seem currently out of reach.
This trailer, set to Nirvana’s “Come As You Are”, simply shows article collages about the four heroes being torn to reveal partial logos or images associated with them. The imagery is cool, but does not reveal anything – that is, until the end. As the word “DEFEND” appears in a hand, cut together ransom-note style from the different show logos, the voice of Stick from Daredevil can be heard.
“You think the four of you can save New York? You can’t even save yourselves.”
The voice of Stick and imagery of a hand suggests fairly strongly they will be up against none other than The Hand, the ancient order of ninjas that have plagued Daredevil. Keep in mind they plan on unleashing the deadly human weapon The Black Sky – and at the end of season two, the deceased Elektra Natchios (an aforementioned “Black Sky”) was placed in the Hand’s resurrection chamber. The Defenders vs. an order of ancient ninjas led by an evil undead Elektra? That is so much cooler than I could have anticipated.
Daredevil (Season 3 in 2017)
Daredevil is getting a third season! This will likely take place after the Punisher’s first season and Jessica Jones’ second, placing it in late 2017.
