Summary
- Iron Fist is considered the worst of The Defenders series due to a lackluster protagonist, mediocre side characters, and pacing issues.
- The Defenders, though enjoyable to watch, feels more like an extension of Daredevil than its own show, and fails to add relevance to non-Daredevil heroes' stories.
- Daredevil is the best Defenders show, with compelling characters, impressive fight scenes, and the most ruthless villain in Kingpin. Its cancelation came after a conclusive ending, and the character is crossing over to the MCU.
With the Marvel Cinematic Universe slowly introducing characters from Netflix's The Defenders saga, rewatching the highlights makes sense, so here's every Defenders show ranked from worst to best. The Defenders saga consists of six series, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher, which all debuted on Netflix, beginning with Daredevil in April 2015. Unfortunately, the platform canceled all six series, leaving their stories largely unresolved.
In early 2021, the MCU timeline. The six series share other commonalities, like featuring Rosario Dawson as faithful friend Claire Temple, but also have distinct differences that evoke debate over which is superior. Here is every Marvel/Netflix Defenders show, ranked from worst to best.
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Iron Fist
After training in martial arts in the mystical lost city of K’un-Lun and learning to channel his chi into his hand, Danny Rand (Finn Jones) returns to New York City as the Iron Fist. Here, he’s confronted with the decision to pursue his family’s business legacy or honor his title as the Iron Fist.
Though the series features enjoyable fight sequences grounded in martial arts, it is considered by many to be the worst of The Defenders series. This is largely because Danny falls flat as a protagonist; the dull character is often whiny, self-rightous, and his powers are less than spectacular when compared to the other Defenders. This is not a reflection of Jones, but more so the writing, which also leads to disappointing pacing issues and mediocre side characters whose relevance in the series is often left unclear.
A better angle would have been for Iron Fist to focus on the much-more captivating Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick), whose skill set made her a truly worthy Iron Fist. Though she does take up the mantle at the end of the second season (after Danny finally accepts he is lacking), the series’ cancelation inhibited any exploration of Colleen as the titular character. Iron Fist never quite lived up to its potential, but there is room for improvement if it’s renewed on Disney+.
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The Defenders
The Defenders excitingly brings heroes Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter), and Iron Fist together to fight The Hand, an organization of evil mystical ninjas. While the ensemble cast makes it fun to watch, the series feels more like season 2.5 of Daredevil than its own show. Not only do audiences need to have seen Daredevil season 2 for The Defenders to make sense, but its events also lead up to Daredevil season 3, leaving unexplained plot details if The Defenders series is not viewed chronologically.
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The series also felt slow and lacked inventive fight sequences, despite only being eight episodes. Plus, The Defenders weirdly focuses on Iron Fist, despite the character being arguably the least interesting character of the bunch – and yet still fails to add anything of relevance to his or the other non-Daredevil heroes’ stories. The appeal for Netflix to debut a separate ensemble series to attract more subscribers was understandable, but resulted in a sub-par show overall.
The Punisher
The Punisher revolves around Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) uncovering a conspiracy surrounding the death of his wife and two children. Throughout its two seasons, he struggles to reconcile his violent alter-ego Punisher with his normal, quiet origins. Bernthal shines as anti-hero Frank, whose traumatic past as a Marine is used to highlight important topics like PTSD and gun violence.
Unfortunately, the show moves at a surprisingly slow pace, dragging out storylines that could have been condensed into one season. Ben Barnes excels as season 1’s villain Jigsaw, but season 2’s villain John Pilgrim is an original character who, though an intriguing addition, creates a hindrance. The Punisher needs to explore his origins in depth, which utilizing a villain ed by existing Marvel lore could have avoided. The Punisher is also easily the goriest out of the six series, so for the squeamish or faint-of-heart, its brutality could be hard to watch.
Luke Cage
A sabotaged human experiment results in Luke Cage developing super strength and skin impenetrable to even bullets. Luke Cage struggles as a powerful superhero while attempting to rebuild his life in Harlem, and confronting his criminal past. With a socially conscious focus on topics like racism and Harlem’s deep-rooted culture, Luke Cage is grounded in realism without feeling predictable or deficient of superhero flair. It also features a largely Black cast, impressive for a franchise that sometimes struggles to be inclusive (though this does seem to be changing).
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The first season of Luke Cage is arguably one of the best seasons in the entire Defenders saga. Colter excels as the heroic but tormented lead, especially against his enemy Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, played by Academy Award-winner Mahershala Ali. The second season, however, does not live up to the potential of the first. Though it features a pertinent and impressive original soundtrack, the introduction of Jamaican villain Jon “Bushmaster” McIver (Mustafa Shakir) results in a plot that feels muddled.
Luke Cage season 2 also dives deeper into secondary characters’ personal histories, which takes away from the action and well-structured flow, and plays a role in the end of season 2 proving unfulfilling. Within this ending, Luke takes over as leader of the club Harlem’s Paradise, a role previously held by his enemies. This disappointingly sets up his corruption, and unless the series continues on Disney+, there is no resolution or redemption to his story.
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Jessica Jones
Jessica Jones is largely a hit because of its protagonist. Like Luke, private investigator Jessica acquired her superhuman powers through an experiment. She is a grumpy and abrasive lead, whose initially-challenging qualities are what make her so strangely likable. Jessica is a strong (literally) and compelling character, with a plot reliant upon her backstory, personality, and intelligence. Jessica Jones also explores her resistance to becoming another female superhero.
In Jessica Jones season 1, it’s revealed the villain Kilgrave (David Tennant) previously controlled her mind and forced her to murder a woman, whom she later learns is Luke’s wife. The season dives into dark subjects like drug abuse, alcoholism, trauma, and Jessica’s PTSD from being mind-controlled. Additionally, Kilgrave is an incredible villain who epitomizes abuse, obsession, and entitlement over Jessica, which is at times unnervingly realistic. Though Kilgrave’s absence slows season 2, things pick back up in season 3 when Jessica is forced to end her best friend’s vigilante rampage. The three seasons’ noir-like theme is reliably softened by Jessica’s sarcasm, making the difficult subject matter easier to digest.
Daredevil
Vigilante Daredevil, also known as lawyer Matt Murdock, was blinded as a child, resulting in heightened senses he uses to fight crime in his home, New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen. Daredevil is often torn between his day job and his world of violent vigilantism, which interestingly calls into question his ethics and dedication to Catholicism. Out of the Defenders, Daredevil’s abilities, like the ability to recognize people by their breathing patterns, are undoubtedly the most enticing and are part of what makes Daredevil the best Defenders show.
Like Danny, Murdock is a trained martial artist, leading to impressive acrobatics and fight scenes. Matt is also ed by well-developed ing characters, like his colleagues Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll). Similar to The Punisher, Daredevil embraces gore, which although disturbing, adds a stimulating layer of horror to the series. The series also outdoes itself by depicting gritty, street-level fighting in a way Marvel has yet to portray in any other series.
Daredevil’s seasons 1 and 3 villain Kingpin, or Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), is easily the Defenders best and most ruthless villain. His complexity is extraordinary, being both evil enough to evoke genuine fear, and pathetic enough to garner sympathy. Seasons 2 and 3 introduce new intriguing characters like Frank Castle, Matt’s ex-girlfriend Elektra Natchios (Élodie Yung) and Benjamin “Bullseye” Poindexter (Wilson Bethel). Despite these complex additions and they’re varying storylines, the series still manages to avoid feeling messy and disted. Furthermore, though its original run on Netflix ended prematurely, its cancelation came before the third season had wrapped, leaving time to create the most conclusive ending out of the Defenders shows.
Luckily, that wasn’t the end for Daredevil, and it seems Marvel agrees with the idea that Daredevil is the best Defenders show, as thus far, Kingpin and Daredevil are the first Defenders characters to appear in the MCU. If that isn’t enough, Daredevil is also getting a new 18-episode run on Disney+ via the Daredevil: Born Again show, which will be the platform’s longest original series. Matt is even confirmed to be searching for Jessica in the series Echo, raising hopes for another Defenders’ MCU debut. Between his existing connection with The Avengers and this revealed search for Jessica, Daredevil is playing a pivotal part in finally bringing part of The Defenders saga into the MCU.
