History Series / TheDefenders2017

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: [[http://www.theothermurdockpapers.com/2017/08/playing-odd-one-out-with-the-defenders One could play endless variants of this game with regards to the heroes' lineup]]. For example, Jessica's the only woman and the sole substance abuser of the group, as well as the sole member of the group to have killed someone, Danny's the only one from an upper class background or has not worked in a field related to law enforcement[[note]]Matt is a lawyer, Jessica is a private investigator, Luke is an ally to Misty Knight and used to be a cop before he was put in Seagate[[/note]], Matt is the only one with a physical disability (his blindness) and who chose to lead a double life, and so on.

* SuperStrength:
** Luke and Jessica's main [[JustForPun strength]].
** Danny when he's using the Iron Fist.
** Elektra has gained a bit of this in getting revived by the Hand, as she's able to send Matt flying backwards with a single kick and later is shown to give difficulty for Luke and Jessica when they try to fight her two-on-one.

* SaltAndPepper: Luke is older, wiser, and more down-to-Earth whereas Danny is younger, impetuous, and has social issues. To a lesser extent, there's Luke and Jessica, who are now working to reconcile as friends after the entire ordeal with Kilgrave.

[[header:[[center:[-'''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse -- The Defenders Saga'''\\
''[[Series/Daredevil2015 Daredevil]]'' | ''[[Series/JessicaJones2015 Jessica Jones]]'' | ''[[Series/LukeCage2016 Luke Cage]]'' | ''[[Series/IronFist2017 Iron Fist]]'' | '''''The Defenders''''' | ''[[Series/ThePunisher2017 The Punisher]]''-]]]]]

** More like Composite Concept; as noted, the show is essentially a mix between Heroes for Hire (Luke, Danny, and Misty being present) and The Knights (loose-knit team of street heroes featuring Daredevil), with some elements of Brian Michael Bendis' ''New Avengers'' (all four main characters have been featured on the team), but with the name from ComicBook/TheDefenders. At least until 2017 where a few months before the show's release, Marvel released a new [[ComicBook/TheDefenders Defenders comicbook series]] with the show's line up.

* FourElementEnsemble: Matt is fire, Jessica earth, Luke water and Danny air.
* FourPhilosophyEnsemble: Matt is The Realist, Jessica The Cynic, Luke the Apathetic and Danny the Optimist.

** In Season 3, [[spoiler:in their final fight, Jessica goes so far to say that Trish has basically become the self-righteous person Dorothy was. It's the final straw that makes Trish completely lose her nerves.]]

** Danny Rand and Colleen Wing. Interestingly, in the comics, Danny's longtime love interest is Misty Knight, but aside from when Danny brings a wounded Colleen to the precinct, the two don't share any scenes. Misty and Colleen do become friends, however, given their Daughters of the Dragon partnership in the comics, and in between this show and the start of ''Luke Cage'' season 2, Danny uses his connections to get Misty [[MythologyGag her new robotic right arm]].

** Jessica doesn't have a partner because ''Luke'' was her love interest until he learned about her killing Reva on Kilgrave's orders. In the comics, Luke ''was'' Jessica's love interest and they had a daughter, Danielle Cage, together. Though Luke and Jessica both admit here they have unresolved feelings for each other. In fact, Jessica is between love interests, as she'll hook up with Oscar in ''Jessica Jones'' season 2.

** Jessica and Luke are forced to fight when Luke gets [[BrainwashedAndCrazy put under the control]] of Kilgrave, the fight ends with Jessica knocking Luke out with a point blank shotgun blast to the head.

** Trish expresses some frustration at being stuck in the precinct with Malcolm and the others while Jessica is off saving the day, which is going to eventually be a contributing factor towards her quest to gain superpowers from Dr. Karl Malus in ''Jessica Jones'' season 2.

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: The Defenders are presented - first in [[Series/{{Daredevil2015}} their]] [[Series/JessicaJones2015 own]] [[Series/LukeCage2016 individual]] [[Series/IronFist2017 shows]] and in this show - as gritty and urban crimefighters as opposed to the planet-level Avengers and the space-level Guardians.

* GeodesicCast: The Defenders form a team that contrasts with Film/{{the Avengers|2012}} and the Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Alexandra referring to Istanbul as Constantinople is supposed to be a hint that she is Really700YearsOld, and the waiter calls Constantinople the city's "ancient" name. Although the city has been known colloquially as Istanbul (or "I Sten Pol") since at least the 10th century or earlier, the city's formal official name remained Constantinople (or "Kostantiniyye" after 1453) until 1922 (less than a 100 years ago at the time). In western countries, the name Constantinople was used almost exclusively until the 1930s in official capacities, and colloquially even longer. Among Greeks, especially the Anatolian Greek diaspora, the city is commonly called "Konstantinoupolis" to this day. Given that Alexandra looks like a woman in her 60s (Sigourney Weaver was 68 at the time), her referring to the city as Constantinople wouldn't be out of the ordinary at all.

* IllGirl: Alexandra's first scene is her visiting a hospital where they tell her she has months at best left of her life.

If you couldn't already tell, this show features {{loads and loads of characters}}. There's the four heroes, practically every supporting cast member from each of the four shows, plus new characters.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: There are 15 characters who get main credits billing, although only the lead heroes plus Elektra appear in all eight episodes: Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Danny Rand, Malcolm Ducasse, Foggy Nelson, Colleen Wing, Misty Knight, Bakuto, Trish Walker, Karen Page, Elektra Natchios, Claire Temple, Stick, and Alexandra. Then there's other returning characters with cameos or recurring roles, like Jeri Hogarth, Madame Gao, Josie, Marci Stahl, Father Lantom, and Turk Barrett. The only major Netflix MCU character who doesn't show up or is at least mentioned is Frank Castle, who is revealed in ''Series/ThePunisher2017'' to be laying low as a construction worker in Brooklyn under an assumed name.

''The Defenders'' is a Creator/{{Netflix}} ([[ChannelHop and later]] Creator/DisneyPlus) {{superhero}} miniseries, based ([[InNameOnly very loosely]]) on the Creator/MarvelComics team of [[ComicBook/TheDefenders the same name]].

''The Defenders'' premiered on August 18th, 2017, and features a total of eight episodes. A second season hasn't been confirmed, but with the cancellation of all the Marvel Netflix shows by February 2019, it seems highly unlikely.

''The Defenders'' is a Creator/{{Netflix}} {{superhero}} miniseries, based ([[InNameOnly very loosely]]) on the Creator/MarvelComics team of [[ComicBook/TheDefenders the same name]].