The Netflix corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe carries on towards its own “Avengers” moment, despite the lackluster reception to their last series “Iron Fist”. Only about three months left to go before the premiere of “Defenders”, an eight-episode streaming miniseries that unites the other Marvel superheroes who debuted in their solo Netflix shows for the past couple of years.
Marvel’s “Defenders” looks to bring together New York City vigilantes Daredevil/Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist/Danny Rand, along with their respective allies in a street-level analogue to the big-name Avengers, in order to confront both a corporate conspiracy and the secret society of assassins The Hand.
One spoiler detail of "Defenders" however is that some of the companions these heroes made in their solo Netflix adventures may turn out to be hostile instead of friendly. A Twitter announcement reveals that an ally thought dead is coming back as an enemy.
Back from the dead, came back wrong
The official “Defenders” Twitter page released a teaser lasting 14 seconds that calls back to the bittersweet finale climax of “Daredevil” season 2. Here, Matt Murdock’s (Brian Cox) old friend Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung) sacrificed herself to save him in the final battle there. As Elektra is also a figure of worship by The Hand, her body is exhumed and placed inside a stone coffin, used by the Hand to resurrect its dead agents.
The Marvel teaser shows the coffin’s lid moving open.
Oh, great. #DEFEND pic.twitter.com/PT4ldeiFRP
— The Defenders (@TheDefenders) May 2, 2017
In the original Marvel Comics, Elektra became an enemy of Daredevil after joining The Hand to become an assassin in the wake of her father’s death. Over the years she has been killed and then revived repeatedly, by either Matt or the Hand, and her alignment tends to shift heavily between anti-hero to monstrous villain almost every resurrection.
It’s been established in Netflix's “Iron Fist” early this year that in the Marvel Cinematic verse, the mystic revival technique of The Hand can twist a subject into a murderous sort if they are brought back repeatedly. Elodie Yung herself refers to her character coming back from the dead in a personal tweet of her own.
Did you get your beauty sleep #Elektra? ⚔️⚡️ #Defenders #DEFEND https://t.co/vqfq8ebquC
— Elodie Yung (@ElodieYung) May 2, 2017
Picking up past threads
Other info released about the upcoming “Defenders” series on Netflix has the main four heroes meeting all together at Midland Circle, where Matt and Elektra found a massive hole in the ground connected to The Hand. There are still no spoilers regarding the character of Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver) slated to be the story’s main baddie, save that she’s a powerful and influential public figure.
The show also stars Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, and Finn Jones as Danny Rand. Marvel’s “Defenders” is executively produced by Douglas Petrie, Marco Ramirez, Drew Goddard and Jeph Loeb, and will premiere on Netflix August 18.