When should The Defenders season 2 happen at Netflix?
You can argue that the team-up series isn’t as popular as it could have been. Luke Cage was met with mixed reviews and Iron Fist was met with mostly-negative ones , and as a result of that, we do think that the air was let out of the tires of the franchise before The Defenders even aired. Unpopular opinion: We enjoyed Iron Fist more than Luke Cage, and feel like there were many people out in the media who just wanted to hate Iron Fist before they even watched it.
Even with a slighter lower profile than we may have once anticipated, we do still think that The Defenders season 2 is a lock. These characters are still bastions of Netflix programming — they’ve got huge viewership and also an enormous pop-culture footprint. Even if they carry a heft price tag, we’re not talking on the level of a Sense8 or The Get Down, which was already canceled by the service.
Whenever The Defenders is eventually renewed, though, it probably will be a long time still before the show starts streaming again. Just look at the timeline! The Punisher appears to be the next show on the Marvel – Netflix pipeline, and then after that we probably will get either Jessica Jones or Luke Cage in 2018 provided that Netflix keeps to its pattern of giving you two superhero shows a year. The other will probably be in early 2019 alongside Daredevil season 3. We could have Iron Fist in early 2020, and then The Defenders season 2 later that year if the current pattern holds. That’s a long wait and this is all speculation to begin with, but it’s not all that long if you compare The Defenders to a movie. Look at how often we’re getting new editions of The Avengers, and you’ll realize that it’s not all that far off.
Do we see The Defenders being the sort of show that we get more than three or four seasons of? Probably not once you consider that these characters all have their own solo shows. There are a lot of story challenges that come with getting these characters together, especially when it comes to finding a villain who is actually a worth adversary to the four characters together. The big problem with the current season is that they’ve spent a lot of time having the heroes fight some random goons who don’t pose much of a threat (the ninjas belonging to The Hand are seriously terrible at what they do) while Sigourney Weaver just hides behind the Black Sky and runs away. It feels almost like a classic NES game where the Big Bad comes and glares at you while sending most of the redshirts in to die at your hand. (Hey, that’s almost a pun on The Hand.)
Do you want to see The Defenders season 2 happen at Netflix? Let us know in the comments!
In the days ahead, we’re going to have a full review for the first season for the show online over at the link here. Keep your eyes peeled for that. (Photo: Netflix.)