The Defenders How Would You Revive The Netflix Series?

[Random490]

With the cancellation of Daredevil it's now pretty much certain these shows are not canceled because of critical reaction or viewership. Netflix is cleaning house of Marvel and it's just a matter of time before Jessica Jones and Punisher get announced next. Now these character and properties are up for grabs for Marvel to do whatever they want. So what do you think they should do? Continue or Reboot? Film or television? What Platform?

For me I'd rather they continue, keep what came before in continuity. While there were up and downs what was great in these shows were really outstanding and I don't think a reboot would hold a candle to some of what we already saw and no one wants to retread the same stories. And while Marvel Television certainly have their faults they've a mostly great job so I don't mind them staying in charge. I think FX would be the best platform, I loved how these series told darker stories scratching an itch the films decided no to do. While that does keep them separate from the the films I think it's for the better in terms of story telling for these character not to get caught up in alien invasions.

Daredevil season 3 ended in a way that wiped the slate fairly clean, making a soft relaunch much easier. I'm going under the assumption that Jessica Jones and Punisher will be similar. Relaunching a show when you do not have past episodes on the same platform (I doubt Netflix would ever allow previous episodes to be distributed on any other platform) Leaving in a place where you can start fresh is pretty massive.

The outlier is Iron Fist and Luke Cage both shows ended with an incredible tease for their next season. I think they should create a tv movie that condenses what would be their third seasons and serve as a finale for each show. Iron Fist: Legacy (where he gets the goddamn costume) and Luke Cage: Unbreakable. These films would be to test the waters for their revival and also provide a nice ending to their previous series. I would then relaunch the previous six series into three shows:

Daredevil: The Man Without Fear
The Punisher: War Journal
The Defenders: Heroes for Hire

Daredevil would just be a continuation of the show. New costume, maybe new sets, and new villains. Occasionally he's crossover with other properties but mostly his show is stand alone.

The Punisher I would have him travel America and maybe to globe taking on the worst of the worst. I want the other two shows to stay mostly in New York but to keep costs down, prevent the city from becoming too crowded, and because I think it opens more stories possibilities. This show would have the least interaction with the others.

The Defenders: Heroes for Hire. I never really cared for HFH name, but I'm keeping it as a tagline, and always loved calling them Defenders. Specially since I don't think we'll ever get a movie with the comic line up or ever have them referred to as Defenders, I bet Marvel Studios would just make them Avengers. But this is a compromise, I picture the first arc of the show would be Luke Cage, Danny Rand, Colleen Wing, and Jessica Jones reuniting much like the previous show. This time Danny decides to try and form a team. He funds a community outreach center using the trend of superheroes as as marketing with hopes of Luke Cage being the face of it. Helping the city however they can, most of the daily tasks are typically volunteer stuff but the show focuses on things like PI cases, body guarding, and police consulting.

I'm treating it more like a framing device, I want to avoid this show replicating what AoS, Arrow, Flash, etc do by have a team that's constantly fighting a villain of the week. I'd like this to be more of an anthology series, some episodes are Luke focus, some are Iron First, some are Jessica, some are Daughter of the Dragon, etc. But there would be a plot line running throughout that builds up to an event that requires most of them.

Of course I'd like more crossover with films but I'd rather keep that more minimal and focused on characters.

 

[Spider-Fan]

My optimal solution is transition the shows to Hulu or FX and continue from where each respective show left off.

 

[Mike Murdock]

Daredevil is clearly the easiest for a soft reboot or, more accurately, a newcomer-friendly new season. The others seem much more difficult, imo.

 

[TheVileOne]

I would simply have Punisher on his own maybe outside of New York starting a one-man war on crime. Fighting some cartels or mobsters with a more exaggerated, comic book bent.

 

[henzINNIT]

Create a "Marvel Knights" banner for Hulu that improves on the Netflix formula with multiple limited event series, each with fewer episodes and better budgets. Announce a Daredevil series right away. Add some long-requested names to the slate like Blade. Do a 'Daughters of The Dragon' series to replace Iron Fist, and use this series to resolve Luke Cage's mob-boss story freeing him up for 'Heroes For Hire' down the line.

 

[Ozbridge]

If I were in power I would buy the streaming right back from Netflix and continue the series on Hulu. If Netflix didn't agree or if the price they asked for were too high then I would let the shows go (i.e. write them off and may or may not produce a series or a movie down the line, depending on what my boss wanted and what was pitched to me).

 

[Yowza]

NYC Special Event in Time's Square.

All in all, I woudn't unless it's a made for television movie and that's only if a really good story could be had.

The Defenders was a major disappointment story wise for me. It had it's cool moments but overall was meh. Too repetitive and really averaged the various shows out when it brought them together. Even with some of the nagging issues that persisted within some of the seasons at least they were sort of their own thing until this. Daredevil had some choppiness at times pacing wise but really seemed like a full-on endeavor unlike the rest of the shows that seemed like they had a lower budget than Agents of Shield yet passed off initially as some sort of 13 hr novel storytelling before watching it of course.

 

[Shoppy]

Simple ....... Defenders (S02): Shadowland

 

[Eggyman]

It's a good question and a difficult one. I'm usually pretty good at separating what I want and what I think is likely. On this occasion I have no firm opinion either way.

I'll be sad to see Darevil go. I've loved every season, even the strange feeling second season (the use of the grapple and the 'Go get em red' made that finale a massive win for me).

BUT one option would be to rotate and then reintroduce in some form - Charlie, no Charlie, considered the same DD in universe or new gender neutral DDx.

I'm kind of secretly pleased about there being no more for the time being. It was a quality ending, quite satisfying. JJ too. IF frustrated me. I think I gave up with it not far from the end but can't remember what made me stop. Just because it's poo probably. Luke Cage I gave up on mid season one.

Not interested in seeing LC bum once per ep but from what I remember he kept his pants on in Defenders. It was okay.

In short, interested in DD and JJ only. The latter less so. Probably would prefer this DD to be boxed off so we don't get 9 seasons in and he's in space joining the Green Lantern Corp.

I guess I'd reboot somewhere down the road but could be considered soft reboot that doesn't contradict what's come before.

 

[Flash525]

I'd put them back on Netflix and let them continue on as they were. Keep LC & IF cancelled, but instead of writing them off, combine them into a HFH series. JJ can continue as there was potential for Hellcat. I never had an issue with DD, and the Punisher has some solid potential too. Five Seasons of each show would have been the place to wrap them up for me, then it'll have been time for another Defenders move - one that included the Punisher, then maybe turn their attention to Blade and Ghost Rider seeing as the MCU has no known plans for them as of yet.

 

[TheVileOne]

The problem is how do you write around that ending to Luke Cage Season 2?

 

[henzINNIT]

The problem is how do you write around that ending to Luke Cage Season 2?

Make him the villain.

 

[TheVileOne]

Make him the villain.

I don't think fans would be Ok with that.

 

[henzINNIT]

I don't think fans would be Ok with that.

Screw the fans, ha.

Nah, you'd want a proper villain for the heroes to fight of course but considering the status quo at the moment, if Misty's fears are realized and Luke becomes an issue, the Defenders would be needed to host that intervention. This would be a completely new dynamic for the group together over. Naturally Cage would be good guy again by the end.

 

[eon001]

Bring it back as an anthology show. Each episode a different character with an isolated story. Different stories from not just the Defenders but from the Punisher, Elektra, Kingpin, Bushmaster, Hellcat, Bullseye etc. They could have mini arcs based on Heroes for Hire and Daughters of the Dragon.

Even everyday characters like Clare and Turk could get some shine.

A day in the life of Turk dealing with the struggle of dodging ever street level hero would be hilarious.

 

[Dasher10]

I'd reintroduce them on Hulu and do so by introducing Moon Knight first while waiting for the two-year Netflix deal to expire. Then announce that Daredevil, Punisher, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones are all returning with a spin-off for Elektra.

FX are also said to be bidding with Hulu for these series and Disney are planning on offering the Netflix series to one of the other. If I were Bob Iger, I'd give FX access to the Marvel Horror series with Ghost Rider coming first since FX was also home to Sons of Anarchy and is still the home to American Horror Story and it would be a team-up between Johnny and Robbie, the latter of whom is already cast. Follow that with Man-Thing since Ellen Brandt was already in Iron Man 3 and was played by Stephanie Szostak. Then Blade: The Tomb of Dracula since that's the series everyone was looking forward to as Blade was the first successful Marvel movie ever. And then finally Werewolf by Night since that's the most obscure and lacks anyone already cast for a role in it.

Ghost Rider would be a cross between Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story and Metalocalypse with licensed music for the soundtrack and all the action set pieces designed to look like music videos set to black/death metal. A series which fits in well with FX's brand but would be unlike anything else seen on TV and set within LA, San Diego and Las Vegas. The downside is the need for ratings since this show would require a large budget for the CGI and highway stunts plus the cost of shutting down stretches of highway to shoot scenes. It shouldn't be an issue since

Man-Thing would be equal parts horror, sci-fi and crime drama where the main cast are set within an evil organization and most of the series takes place in humid swamps and sterile laboratories. Ted is the titular character but he can't be the main focus since he never speaks, would require large amounts of practical puppet effects to do in live action and the more you see him, the less scary he becomes, his powers are dependent on other people fearing him and if AIM actually find him and bring him back, the series ends. The actual Man-Thing needs to be used sparingly and the series really needs to be about Ellen and AIM with Monica Rappacinni being both Ellen's boss and the series antagonist. Ellen would want to cure Ted, Monica wants to use him as a weapon and sell him to the highest bidder. The issue with this show is that it would be set in and around Miami and shooting in the Everglades National Park would mean a TON of environmental regulations which the film crew would have to abide by. The cost of an animatronic Man-Thing wouldn't be that bad since the character in the comics is slow with limited mobility but the cost of abiding by environmental regulations may be an issue.

Blade: The Tomb of Dracula would be set in New Orleans which is relatively affordable to shoot in, Vampires just need fake blood and cheap prosthetic fangs to bring to live and since it would be as much a detective story as it would be martial arts and horror, there wouldn't be a constant need for action in every episode. The real issue is that when the action does kick in, the show will need Into the Badlands-quality sword fights. That and Blade has a MASSIVE supporting cast which will also drive up the budget.

Werewolf by Night takes place in LA in the comics but since Ghost Rider would already be claiming LA for himself, I'd move it to the Bay Area or Phoenix depending on which would be cheaper to film in. Jack Russel would be hunted down by The Committee and be forced to lay low by day but by night, he'd be a sentient werewolf who'd set out to right wrongs and during a full-moon, he'd be stronger and more animalistic but have less control over himself. This would honestly be the cheapest to shoot since most of the time, the makeup effects would be doable on a small budgety, Jack mostly fights humans and there would be a choice of locations to film in. There would still be risk involved since the character is virtually unknown to general audiences and I'm not sure if people would take a werewolf named Jack Russel seriously.

If all four shows are hits, then I'd do a Midnight Sons miniseries where they'd all head to Dallas to fight Mephisto (preferably with the help of Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch).

 

[Dasher10]

And Disney+ should seriously consider X-Factor, New Mutants, Power Pack, Champions, Avengers Academy and Hawkeye as future series. The Hawkeye in question would be Kate who Clint would be training.

Hulu should also do She-Hulk since that's the only way that we'd ever get a live-action She-Hulk or anything Hulk related in live-action thanks to Comcast's 30% stake in Hulu. if that works out then MAYBE we'd get a Hulk film sequel.

 

[Spider-Fan]

FX are also said to be bidding with Hulu for these series and Disney are planning on offering the Netflix series to one of the other.

Source?

 

[Dasher10]

Hulu Or FX Will Likely Bring Back The Marvel Netflix Shows

 

[Dasher10]

Oh, and Daredevil should make his MCU comeback in Spider-Man 3.

 

[Random490]

Hulu Or FX Will Likely Bring Back The Marvel Netflix Shows

Oh, I really hope that's true.

 

[Dasher10]

If it isn't and not all of the cast can return, I'd totally be up for seeing some What If? type films so long as the MCU actor can appear in the title role.

Stuff like Luke Cage in the 70s in a real period-set Blaxploitation film, Punisher in the 60s in Vietnam, Daredevil in 1980s New York, Elektra in Fuedal Japan and Iron Fist would be set in the MCU itself but it wouldn't be Danny Rand and instead Wu Ao-Shi during the Ming Dynasty as a prequel.

And it could set up the MCU to do more alternate universes. Stuff like Marvel Zombies, Age of Apocalypse, Thor during the Viking Age, Black Widow in the 1950s and Marvel 2099 (Sony have the Spider-Man 2099 rights so I'd make it about Galahad and rename him Iron Man 2099).

 

[Spider-Fan]

Hulu Or FX Will Likely Bring Back The Marvel Netflix Shows

I hope this is true

But I will take that with a grain of salt for now.

 

[dmcreif]

All that's really known for certain is how any sort of revival would entail a lot of money on the table, and lawyers hashing things out.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

I mean there are a lot of options. They would have to retain their mature ratings so ideally this would be possible on Disney+ or Hulu or FX. To wrap up each character, I'm thinking of a minimum of the following:

Daughters of the Dragon 8 episode miniseries - Misty and Colleen bringing down a Shadowland inspired Luke Cage who has taken over in the absence of Mariah/Kingpin/etc.

Heroes for Hire 8 episode miniseries - Luke Cage and Iron Fist are back in action. Rand returns to NY to find that his company has cannibalized itself, he goes to Jessica Jones for help convincing Luke to fight crime for money. Jessica and Luke rekindle their flame and she gets pregnant.

Daredevil: Man Without Fear feature length film - DD vs an enhanced and suited up Bullseye. Non stop adrenaline ride and farewell to Charlie Cox's character. Matt visits Fisk in prison for help in defeating this impossible foe.

The Punisher: War Journal feature length film - Punisher in episodic bouts against common criminals. (think Sin City)