Just like its sister movie universe, Netflix's Marvel universe has reached the time for its team up series, the eagerly anticipated The Defenders. An eight part mini series that ally Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and the Iron Fist together to defend New York from powerful threats. And while I'm sure so many people are excited for this, and if you are reading - I do say watch it if you haven't, but for me, I was massively disappointed with the show. It's not Iron Fist bad, but it has nothing on the other shows at all. But, it does have it's moments now and again.

Matt Murdoch (Charlie Cox) Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Danny Rand (Finn Jones) come together after a tremor in New York city is caused by the villainous Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver) and her sinister organisation, the Hand. As the four struggle to work with others, the Hand prepare Matt's ex-lover Elektra (Elodie Yung) for their master plan, one that could change the city and our heroes' lives forever. 

Now let's talk about the good stuff before I go on a rant. I will say, that from a technical perspective, this show is grand. The cinematography in particular is very impressive, with some shots only being one take and they look very good indeed - some of the directors must have taken a lot of inspiration from the other shows it seems. The acting is great (but one) all round as it always is with these shows. Jessica is a great character and offers some of the funniest lines in the show, Matt is still a likeable and charming character who you really have to feel something for and Luke, who is probably my favourite character in the show, is funny and charismatic, and can pull of emotional depth when it is needed, and it pays off. The interactions between all the characters are great, and the development and how they all connect grows stronger every episode. There's really the same kind of feeling there that the Avengers had when they first teamed up. And it's the strongest part of the show.

But where the show falls is the writing and storytelling, which effects all the other negatives this show has. It's pretty much Season 2 of Iron Fist, to put it plain and simple which is definitely something I don't want to see! Whilst the other three characters have plenty to do, the plot feels too Iron Fist centric. And that's a problem. Iron Fist becomes a plot device that sidelines Matt, Jess and Luke too often on some occasions. This also involves the villain of Alexandra and the rest of the hand. Weaver, one of my favourite actresses, is great here, but is underused so much that it feels like a waste of good talent. We never get to see her motivations properly fleshed out and she just feels like another throwaway Marvel villain. The issue with the Hand is that, they're either just not interesting anymore, or interesting at all. Daredevil Seasons 1 and 2 were great because we didn't have the hand as villains, or when we did in Season 1 they weren't as prominent as Wilson Fisk, and in Season 2, they did make it weaker with their appearance, but they weren't the main focus. Jessica Jones and Luke Cage don't include the Hand at all and Iron Fist had them as the main villains in that story, and it just ruined the effect they had in the first place. As well as that they feel like Danny's villain, and that the other three are just there to help, other than maybe Matt. The plot just gets ridiculous and all over the place at times, and the audience are often put in the shoes of Luke Cage, who is the character who just doesn't believe anything that's going on at all, always questioning it.