Defenders

Everyone loves comic book trivia, but with decades of comics behind, there’s always some new obscure fact to learn. That’s why ComicsAlliance is going deep into the minutiae of your favorite names in comics in our continuing video series. You think you know comics? Well, here’s a few things you might not know! This week we're taking a look at Marvel's other big-time superhero team, the Defenders!

You’d be forgiven to wonder who from the Netflix Marvel casts hasn’t been confirmed for The Defenders at this point, but Daredevil’s Elodie Yung at least remained a question, given the state we last saw Elektra in. Well, someone had a Hand in bringing her back, as The Defenders will officially be Elektra-fied.

Marvel has yet to introduce us to its Netflix Iron Fist cast onscreen, making it difficult to generate the same excitement of joining The Defenders teamup series. Fortunately, we can at least confirm Jessica Henwick’s Colleen Wing will take part in the four-way miniseries, and there’s a spinoff waiting in the wings if we ever heard one.

Doctor Strange is a second-tier character in the Marvel pantheon, but he's making the leap to the big leagues thanks to the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. To help get you up to speed with the character, we've compiled a list of ten of the best Doctor Strange stories ever published. These are the stories that will introduce you to his major foes and his main supporting cast, and get you acquainted with all the many great talents that have worked on the character over the years.

The very first teaser made clear that The Defenders would wield a Stick against Hell’s Kitchen’s Hand-iest problem, and a number of other Marvel Netflix stars have confirmed their return for the team-up series as well. Latest to join The Defenders officially are none other than some of Daredevil’s most conflicted allies, and Jessica Jones’ best friends.

It’s a Marvel-ous time to be in New York, as the combined casts of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist have hit the streets for The Defenders. Not only do our first set photos reveal a tense stand-off between Jessica Jones and Misty Knight, but so too have more super-friends signed on for the expansive cast!

The recent release of Luke Cage may have crystallized how out of touch Marvel’s Defenders series feel with the current MCU film slate, a problem not likely to get better with Doctor Strange splitting New York into multiple dimensions. Timing makes it difficult to write any of the four Netflix stars into the films, but with Infinity War on the horizon, new comments from Kevin Feige again dash our hopes.

We’ve barely recovered from Luke Cage and snippets of Iron Fist shown at New York Comic-Con, and already The Defenders have a big bad. Get your power-loaders ready, as Alien star Sigourney Weaver will menace the street-level foursome as The Defenders’ main villain!

Marvel’s Netflix production can be a tough nut to crack, with Luke Cage filming near of a year before its premiere, while Jessica Jones had far less lead time. We caught our first look at Iron Fist in April, and now only hours from New York Comic-Con, Finn Jones confirms production has wrapped.

Jon Bernthal got tongues wagging with reports that Netflix’s Punisher spinoff had already started filming, and now Marvel is finally backing it up. Not only do we know for sure that 2017 will see the Punisher’s return, but also three major additions to the Netflix cast.