Four men, including a janitor at a Bronx public housing complex and a Manhattan college student, were hit with assault and weapons charges for their part in a wild Midtown brawl that landed them in local hospitals Monday.

The melee was so convoluted that prosecutors said they were still reviewing surveillance video of the incident at lunchtime Wednesday — and one of the brawlers is now claiming self-defense.

Tim Murray, the lawyer for Bronx custodian Tony Britt, claimed his client only attacked 27-year-old Kirk Malcolm with a tire iron because Malcolm was swinging a knife and he needed to protect himself.

“Mr. Britt acknowledges that he picked up at the scene a tire iron he saw on the street as he looked for a weapon to defend himself,” Murray said. “Self-defense is clearly part of his case.”

Prosecutors acknowledged that Malcolm, of the Bronx, “may have been acting as the initial aggressor.”

But Assistant District Attorney Jena Tiernan said surveillance video — including footage reviewed during lunch break from the court — shows Britt and buddy Reginald Law beating Malcolm while a fourth man, Brannovan Martinez, 20, allegedly egged them on.

“Even though (Malcolm) had a knife, you do see clearly defendant Britt swinging a tire iron and then defendant Law holding a knife and also punching [Malcolm],” Tiernan said.

Britt, 39, and Law, 34, of Far Rockaway, were charged with assault, attempted gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

Britt and Law were ordered held on $25,000 bail.

Martinez, a criminal justice student at Borough of Manhattan Community College, was charged with attempted gang assault and released without bail.

Malcolm, who was arraigned Tuesday night, was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon. He was being held at the Manhattan Detention Complex on $10,000 bail.