The Punisher

Daredevil’s second season was met with a more mixed reception than the first. There was criticism levied at the plot, which brought in more of the mystical elements from the comics, in contrast to a first season that was more realistic (realistic is relative with comic book adaptations). I personally detested the love story between Karen and Matt, which there was absolutely no indication of in the first season. One thing that many people loved, and probably wanted more of, was The Punisher.

The anti-hero featured heavily in the marketing and Jon Bernthal nailed his performance, before becoming more scarce in the latter half of the season. With the success (ratings wise) of DD season 2 and the reception for The Punisher it was obvious that he would likely get his own spinoff.

Today we got our first trailer for the show, a short but sweet teaser of what is to come. In short, I can’t wait for this show to come out and I am somewhat annoyed that Netflix has yet to reveal the exact release date. Fortunately, there isn’t that much time left in 2017 so it is coming out sooner, rather than later.

Firstly, this trailer doesn’t give away too much of the plot. DD season 2 introduced us to the conspiracy that Frank is a part of, a plan by government agencies to kill him so that certain secrets remain buried. As much as I am looking forward to Frank taking on the government, like some of the arcs in Punisher Max, I have to say this conspiracy is the one part of the Netflix punisher mythos I didn’t like. In the series, District Attorney Reyes admits that they were conducting a sting on a gang meeting in Central Park. Reyes chose not to clear the area in order to avoid tipping off criminals and this ultimately impacted Castle when the gangs caught on to the ruse.

The comics I’ve read so far that detail Frank’s origin, from Year One to the Max series (2004 and 2010), depict his family’s death as a simple issue of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His family stumbles across a mob hit and the mob decides to eliminate witnesses. This sense of randomness and chaos is what made his family’s death so tragic. I think Frank’s vendetta against criminals as a whole makes more sense if he lost his family to something much more senseless than a sting gone wrong. However, Frank’s battles against other government agencies (from the looks of this trailer) could lead to some interesting overlap from the Punisher Max (2004) comics, which are gems for Punisher comics and comics as a whole.

With that said, the costume is actually my only other negative on display in this trailer. It doesn’t look terrible, and still gets the skull right, but I feel like the suit would look better with a different design for the vest itself. However, this is a relatively minor complaint since the show will hopefully have more to offer than a great wardrobe.

While Kevin Feige says the MCU films will never be dark, the Netflix shows have been a different story. The Punisher looks to continue that trend with the brutal headshots crammed into the two minutes of footage. I found some of the hand-to-hand fight scenes lacking in Iron Fist and Defenders, even for the characters who are supposed to be skilled martial artists. The choreography was weak and I’m hoping Frank’s style of combat will lend itself to some entertaining shootouts and some hand-to-hand fights as well. He is not as skilled a fighter as Daredevil but his fists are still deadly.

This trailer shows us a glimpse of Karen Page, who I feel has way more chemistry with Frank than she has with Daredevil.

Some of the most interesting subplots in the Punisher Max (2004) series was how the police reacted to Frank’s Killings. It is implied local police implicitly supported his actions, by never making serious moves to bring him in. Although they detested what he did on principle, they knew he was an unmatched deterrent against crime. The last scenes in the trailer, focusing on a group of detectives, makes me wonder if this series will also explore Frank’s actions from the other side.

Overall, this series is my most anticipated for the rest of the year and I have high hopes that it will deliver and possibly surpass Daredevil Season 1 as my favourite Marvel Netflix show.

The Defenders

Spoilers for the preceding Marvel Netflix Series: Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones

Entertainment Value: 9/10

Critical Value: 7/10

Iron Fist wasn’t the complete atrocity that many people made it out to be, but it was a disappointing experience after the two seasons of Daredevil, and the season of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage that preceded it. Daredevil season 1 is still my favourite Marvel Netflix series, that was consistently well plotted and engaging. DD season 2 was nearly my favourite due to the Punisher, but the season was brought down by the love story between Matt and Karen and a villain that proved to be less engaging than the antihero offered by Frank Castle. Jessica Jones had the slowest start of all of the series’ but the pay off was well worth it. Unlike Iron Fist, the cast’s performances were strong all around and the show gave us Kilgrave, the best villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Luke Cage made its character a fighter for the common man, exploring themes of racism and police brutality that are relevant to America (despite what many people argue). The show faltered once Cottonmouth was killed off, and Mike Colter definitely isn’t as strong a lead as Charlie Cox or Krysten Ritter.

Then Iron Fist just had the issue of poor, or inconsistent performances all around. There was also some poor characterization and weak fight scenes, which stood out more since Danny Rand is supposed to be one of the best fighters in the MCU. Finn Jones only got fifteen minutes to review the choreography for each fight scene, and it showed.

With all that said, I had some mixed thoughts going into Defenders. Firstly, I was worried that some of the issues from the solo series e.g. dragging plots, could be exacerbated with a team up. However, it was revealed that Defenders was shorter. So one concern went away, and then I was worried that the plot would come across as rushed. However, I was still excited about the show and all the things the show could get right.

Let’s start with how the heroes come together. This forms the crux of any team up movie and I believe that this is the part of the series that is handled best. Firstly, all of the heroes live in the same city, so there proximity creates a higher chance of them crossing paths to combat villains. Danny is returning to New York to continue his hunt for The Hand. Luke Cage is out of prison and comes across a low-level kid from Harlem who gets caught up with The Hand. Jessica Jones is investigating a man’s disappearance on behalf of her client. Foggy now works for Jeri Hogarth, and Hogarth wants to ensure that Jones’s investigation into a highly sought after man doesn’t result in any negative press through her connection to Jessica. Since Matt is now pro-bono, Foggy offers Matt the job. Let’s not forget the link that Claire Temple offers.

This chain of events makes it easier to accept when the heroes finally come together in the same location. Of course, there is still some suspension of disbelief required but as Rand says, “This can’t be coincidence”.

Yes, you may be lost watching this show without watching all of the solo series’. Iron Fist’s mythos in particular plays a central role in the season.

Danny Rand is a more engaging character in this show, although the character is still plagued by the weak link of Finn Jones. Rand’s mystical knowledge and background is contrasted with humourous effect, to that of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, who both have a hard time adjusting to another level of eccentricity in their lives. Rand, and the team as a whole, work great as an ensemble. The scenes where they are getting to know one another better still stand out as some of my favourites.

While the MCU films have struggled with giving us memorable villains, the netflix shows have done a better job. So far we have had Kingpin, Cottonmouth and the unmatched Kilgrave. The issue with Kilgrave’s presence is that any villain will have a hard time topping him in season 2 of Jessica Jones (but it looks like he’s returning).

We also have the issue of topping Kilgrave in Defenders. We got our first taste of The Hand in Daredevil, since Nobu was later revealed to be a member. DD season 2 went deeper into the mystical element of the universe and Iron Fist focused entirely on it.

Although watching Iron Fist is important for understanding the plot leading into Defenders, this series does offer more background on the organization. This helps to flesh out Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver) and her allies more. Aided by the other four fingers of the Hand, Alexandra seeks to use the Black Sky to unlock an ancient vault that will give them immortality. The Black Sky is none other than a resurrected Elektra (not a spoiler, the trailers revealed this). Elektra gets a bigger role as the series progresses and is ultimately a dull villain, and her storyline was also one of my least favourite parts of season 2.

Weaver is great in her performance but ultimately wasn’t that memorable a villain, and I can say the same for most of them. The one that actually stands out most is Yutaka Takeuchi’s “Marikami”, one of the five fingers of the Hand. At the end of the series, I only wished that he had more screen time.  Great heroes need great villains and I don’t believe Defenders delivered.

The action is an improvement from Iron Fist, which isn’t saying much, but the choreography is still weaker than Daredevil season 1. Obviously Luke Cage and Jessica Jones are not martial artists, but there are still ways to make an entertaining fight scene with such characters. Even characters like Daredevil and Iron Fist are still hampered by some subpar editing and choreography.

The end of the series hints at numerous famous developments and storylines from the comics, and makes me especially excited for Daredevil season 3.

The series is entertaining throughout, but I can’t truly say that it’s great or fully lived up to the hype.

Current ranking for the Marvel Netflix Shows

  1. Daredevil Season 1
  2. Jessica Jones
  3. Daredevil Season 2
  4. Defenders
  5. Luke Cage
  6. Iron Fist

The Defenders Trailer Review

Potential spoilers ahead for all Marvel Neflix shows: Daredevil (1 and 2), Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and Iron Fist

The Avengers of netflix are arriving later this year, and Marvel recently released the first trailer for the team up series.

Firstly, I have to say that my excitement for the series was somewhat dimmed after watching Iron Fist. Although the show wasn’t as bad as critics made it out to be, it still fell short of the other series’ in my opinion. The acting ranged from great to hammy, with some actors struggling with some scenes more than others. Since Iron Fist is supposed to be one of the best fighters in the Marvel universe, the fight scenes were also a huge disappointment, with the best one trumped by almost any fight from Daredevil. The writing could also have been greatly improved to provide better villains and better plotting. Next to Mike Colter, Finn Jones is definitely the weakest actor out of the defenders. At least with The Defenders, Jones and Colter won’t be carrying the show. They’ll be supported by Charlie Cox and Krysten Ritter.

When the series was scheduled to arrive before another season of Luke Cage I assumed that Cage would be broken out of prison. From this trailer it appears like that isn’t the case. We see Cage in public, riding a bus and still being referred to as Harlem’s hero. Perhaps he received some legal assistance from Matt too.

The first scene in the trailer remains my favourite. It isn’t action packed, but it is the perfect introduction for Matt Murdock’s character. It is also the first shot we get of two defenders together. Like the after-credits scene in Iron Man, where we first see Nick Fury, this shot of Matt and Jessica could be the start of an era.

The other character meetings appear to happen by chance, such as Rand and Cage. Since the characters all live in the same city, this bothers me less than it normally would but hopefully they’re not just bumping into each other on the street. One thing (among many) that bothered me about Iron Fist, was that Claire just happened to train at the dojo where Colleen worked, leading to her meeting Rand. Yes, same city, but Manhattan is a pretty big place and the characters don’t all live in the same area of Manhattan. It would make more sense for them to meet as they pursue leads on a new threat, such as Sigourney Weaver’s character, Alexandra.

Not much has been revealed about Alexandra yet, but she is likely involved with The Hand. Elektra died at the end of Daredevil’s second season, but her body was retrieved by The Hand afterwards. Now we know that Elektra will return, serving as The Black Sky, The Hand’s weapon. Unless the show will have two different villains, it looks like The Hand will be the main one for The Defenders.

We don’t see too much of the fight scenes so far, which is fine by me. Hopefully the fights are better than the ones we got in Iron Fist. While Jessica Jones and Luke Cage aren’t great martial artists, DD and IF are supposed to be some of the world’s best. I want to see that portrayed convincingly. If the actors get more than fifteen minutes to practice choreography, we should be good to go.

I was happy to see the interaction between Cage and Rand, since they have their own Heroes for Hires series in the comics. The moment Rand punches Cage is also a throwback to Cage’s own series, where a thug punches him and breaks his hand. It looks like Rand’s punch affects him a lot more than the thug’s did.

Many cast members from previous shows are confirmed to return for this series as well. We know Misty Knight is back, but Colleen Wing, Karen Page, Jerri Hogarth, Foggy Nelson, Trish Walker and of course, Stick are all returning. Even if their roles are relatively small, it does bring up the question of pacing. The previous Netflix shows were all thirteen episodes, but could have been shortened. Luke Cage in particular felt like it was dragged out via legal wrangling. We already know the main characters, so maybe The Defenders doesn’t need to be as long. However, we still have to deal with introducing the characters to one another and setting up their villain. I am hoping that the show doesn’t feel rushed or bloated between the team introductions, the conflict itself, plus appearances from other characters.

With all that said, I am excited for the show. I am hoping that it represents all the best things about the Marvel netflix shows. The great acting and action from DD and JJ. The great villains, with the exception of Diamondback any villain introduced in Iron Fist. The great supporting characters and the writing that isn’t afraid to eschew mindless “fun” in order to tell a good story.