Nearly three weeks after Marvel’s Iron Fist premiered on Netflix, the network has released a short teaser for the next of its Marvel superhero shows, The Defenders. Those who didn’t enjoy Iron Fist might snarkily speculate that Netflix is trying to quickly move on from the bad buzz and reviews surrounding that show — though it’s apparently very popular — and remind fans and viewers that more — and hopefully better superhero TV — is soon to come.
The Defenders is the culmination of Marvel establishing its street-level TV universe with less super-powered, more down-to-earth heroes like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. The four characters will team up, Avengers-style, for a 13-episode series.
Not much is known about the show, other than the four heroes will team up, along with other supporting characters that have populated those series — such as Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), Misty Knight (Simone Missick) and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) — and the main villain of the story will be Sigourney Weaver’s Alexandra, described by showrunner Marco Ramirez as “a very powerful force in New York City.” And now, thanks to this new teaser, we know when The Defenders will premiere on Netflix.
For a 16-second clip that presents far more questions than answers, there’s quite a bit of information in there to dissect. First of all, we don’t know what happened to the fearsome foursome before getting on that elevator. But it appears to have tired Danny Rand (Finn Jones) out. Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) is wearing a mask for some reason. Did his identity need to be concealed? (Some Marvel Comics fans may also enjoy that Daredevil’s bandana-type mask resembles what Iron Fist wears.) Meanwhile, Luke Cage (Mike Colter) seems typically cool.
But Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) is angry about something. And she certainly doesn’t like being watched. When she notices the surveillance camera, she smashes it out of commission. However, in doing so, she reveals a crucial clue. The time stamp on the security footage stops at 08:18:20:17. That also looks like August 18, 2017 — a release date for The Defenders.
An August release roughly follows the schedule Marvel had last year, with season two of Daredevil premiering in the spring and Luke Cage following in the fall. Does a slightly earlier release leave room for something else later this year, like a Daredevil season three or maybe even The Punisher?
The footage also includes an IP address — http://23.253.120.81 — which isn’t there incidentally. That URL takes you to the under-construction website of the New York Bulletin, the newspaper seen in all of the Netflix Marvel shows and where Daredevil‘s Karen Page works. The site includes several references and Easter eggs for fans, including an interview with Ward (Tom Pelphrey) and Joy (Jessica Stroup) Meachum from Iron Fist, along with an ad for Colleen Wing’s dojo.
So it looks like The Defenders will premiere on Netflix Aug. 18, 2017.
