“You think the four of you can save New York…you can’t even save yourselves.”

What separates this motley crew of street-level heroes is a few square miles.

The Defenders is the culmination of the Marvel/Netflix series. The 8 episode crossover miniseries brings the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, A PI who’s worth every dime…when’s she’s sober, a hoody-wearing ex-con with unbreakable skin and a dude with a glowing fist together to face off against the Hand and their mysterious leader, Alexandra (played by the incomparable Sigourney Weaver).

Just because this is a crossover, that doesn’t mean each character’s ongoing arcs are getting put on the backburner. I, for one, hope that each arc gets some progression across the eight episodes (as opposed to the usual 13). Let’s get up to speed on what each of these characters have gone through.

Warning: Full Spoilers for all four seasons (Jessica Jones S1, Daredevil S2, Luke Cage S1 and Iron Fist S1) will follow. Read at your own risk.

LAST CHANCE…

Still here?

Okay. Let’s go.

Better the devil you know…

Matt Murdock’s single-minded pursuit of the Hand has taken it’s toll on the people in his circle. Nelson & Murdock have gone splitsville (for now…), he’s reeling from Elektra’s death (more on that in a second). Wilson Fisk, despite being behind bars, vows to make his life hell when he gets out and he made a confession to Karen by saying these two words:

Matt, more alone than ever, has to reach out if he’s got a shot to stop the Hand and they’ve got a secret weapon…

Tonight’s forecast suggest a Black Sky…

Elektra came roaring back into Matt’s life and she brought the Hand nipping on her heels. At the end of season 2, Elektra died an honorable death in the war against the Hand and it was revealed that she’s the Black Sky. Now, with her impending resurrection, Could she lead the Hand to the promised land?

Business booms for Alias Investigations

It’s been 18 months since we’ve last seen Jessica Jones. Alias Investigations has taken off in the wake of her killing Kilgrave. After giving the hero gig a shot, it’s gonna be much harder now to stay under the radar with her phone ringing off the hook. Being mind controlled for months left her with some massive trust issues. It’ll be interesting to see her start to move past her self-loathing and learn to trust three other men as we head into her Season 2, which is filming right now. (Sidebar: There’s a lot of baggage between her and Luke. The jury’s out if they can move forward)

Sometimes backwards to move forward…Always.

When we last left Harlem’s favorite bulletproof son. Luke had to return to Seagate to continue his jail sentence. How he will get out early is anyone’s guess. The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen going down to Georgia to bail him out? Make it happen!!

K’un L’un gone?

Danny Rand, one in a long line of Immortal Iron Fists, has discovered that the mystical city that gave him his gifts has mysteriously disappeared. After spending much of his first season stumbling his way back to New York trying to reclaim his birthright after being gone for 15 years. While that show did have issues (not enough mysticism, fight scenes are hit and miss, iffy writing, etc), I do think that putting Danny under a different creative team (it’s got Marco Ramirez, who along with Doug Petrie, were the showrunners on Daredevil S2) will go a long way to making him stand out amongst his fellow Defenders. Seeing him getting paired up with Luke Cage (Heroes for Hire!) has the potential to redeem the character.

Penny (or dime) for your thoughts?

The Punisher came in like a force of nature and grabbed the criminal underworld by the balls, much to Daredevil’s dismay. As you can see, Frank detached his old life and he’s running around doing God-knows-what. After stealing the show constantly in season 2. Frank’s gonna get the spotlight this fall (I think, around SDCC ’17, we could get a date announcement) in the Punisher spinoff. Could we see a cameo in the Defenders? Start saving your pennies and dimes…

Way down in the hole….

Any guesses what lies in the bottom of Midland Circle? What could be lurking underground that’s gonna bind these four together….

Who else will join the fun?

The supporting cast is an all star line-up. In addition to Karen. The supporting casts across all four shows will pop up during the Defenders including Stick (Scott Glenn), Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss), Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), Foggy (Elden Henson), Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor), Malcolm Ducasse (Eka Darville), Misty Knight (Simone Missick) and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick).

This is shaping up to be one hell of a celebration. It all comes to a head on August 18th!