‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Directors Explain Why The Defenders Are Absent

The Defenders won’t be showing up in Avengers: Infinity War or its sequel for one major reason: there are more than enough characters in the movie as it is. But that doesn’t mean that the Russo Brothers didn’t think about including the Netflix heroes in the crossover.

Speaking with the French publication Premiere, co-director Joe Russo discussed including characters like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and the Punisher in the movie with his brother Anthony. However, they found the idea to be impractical and something that would invite too many cooks for a kitchen in a statement which roughly translates to the following:

“We have considered everything. But the trick is that we already have at least sixty characters with whom we must tell a story! And it’s hard enough to communicate with Taika Waititi, Ryan Coogler, Scott Derrickson, Peyton Reed, [Jon Watts, Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck] and James Gunn at the same time, not to add all the showrunners and TV crews to this. The latter is also led by totally different people. So it’s practically impossible. Our job is to focus on the Marvel film world and offer a satisfying climax. “

Better luck next time, it seems, for the TV characters to show up in a movie. It seems like if Marvel ever plans to do a real television/movie crossover, then one of the future Spider-Man movies would be the place to do so, provided that the story sticks to Manhattan (where all of the Netflix characters live).

The Defenders is available to stream as a part of Netflix’s original programming. The show features an ensemble cast that includes Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock (Daredevil), Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, Finn Jones as Danny Rand (Iron Fist), Élodie Yung as Elektra Natchios, Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse, Simone Missick as Misty Knight, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as “Foggy” Nelson, Carrie-Ann Moss as Jeri Hogarth, Scott Glenn as Stick, Rachael Taylor as Pasty Walker, Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple, Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing, Wai Ching Ho as Madame Gao, and Sigourney Weaver as Alexandra Reid.

Avengers: Infinity War will be released on April 27, 2018, with a cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautisa, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Rudd, Benedict Wong, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Tessa Thompson, Benicio Del Toro, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor and Josh Brolin. Here’s the official synopsis:

As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.

The currently-untitled Avengers 4 features a cast made up of many of the key players in Infinity War — alongside newcomers like Brie Larson and Evangeline Lilly — and is scheduled to hit theaters on May 3, 2019.

Source: Premiere