The Defenders is #3 on the docket for Netflix-Marvel, following the premiere of Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Some sort of threat will persuade Jessica Jones and Daredevil to team up with Luke Cage and Danny Rand for an Avengers-style alliance to protect New York. But how will four strong superhero personalities all get along? They won’t, The Defenders showrunners Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez told /Film during the Television Critics Association summer press tour.
“It’s fun because it’s just like any other family. They have to fight,” Petrie said. “We’ll have eight or however many episodes so really everybody gets to interact with everybody. It’s been one of the great joys of watching something like The Avengers or The Dirty Dozen , any movie like that. Any of those stories feels like people are going to watch people grow, bump heads, fight along the same side. We want to watch all that,” Ramirez added.
When asked about whether The Defenders will be more of a spectacle than Daredevil or Jessica Jones , the producers said it's the sophisticated stories, not explosions, that make these Marvel-Netflix shows so good.
“The thing that excites us the most going into The Defenders and writing these scripts is just to tell character stories and interaction between them, watch them bump up against each other,” Ramirez said. “You have time over the many episodes, exactly, to spread out the characters, let them breathe, let them expand and let them get to know each other, so they don’t have to love each other right away, but we’ll love them by the end,” Petrie added.
It’s still unclear what sparks Daredevil’s inclination to form The Defenders, but a teaser released at San Diego Comic-Con suggests it will be a common enemy that brings the four New York heroes together -- possibly The Hand.
The Defenders will begin production late this year, followed by Jessica Jones Season 2 and Daredevil Season 3 in early 2017 .
