Disney and Netflix came out of left field when they announced that they were teaming up to bring four live action series to the small screen, focusing on a hand full of street level heroes from the Marvel Universe, namely Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Set in Daredevil's home turf of Hells Kitchen, a neighbourhood in New York City, the four series will cumulate in a team-up mini series called The Defenders. Basically, Marvel are bringing their big screen model to the small screen. But who are these heroes? Sit back and let this old nerd, with way too much time on his hands, take you through them.
DAREDEVIL
O.k., this guy we know, thanks to Ben Affleck donning the crimson body suit back in 2003. But that movie, while it did pay homage to all eras of the character pretty well, really only scratched the surface of what the blind lawyer/acrobatic vigalante can offer, piling on the cringe inducing cheese a bit too much. On the small screen, he should fare much better. I have a feeling it will borrow heavily from Brian Michael Bendis' run on the book (all the characters in this event have been written by Bendis in some capacity, be it only a smattering of issues or entire series) which really focused on the street level aspect of the hero, trading in the super villains for mob bosses, and presenting Daredevil with some really personal problems to overcome, such as having his secret identity outed to the public. Also The Punisher does play a part in Daredevil history, and Marvel own The Punisher again. See where I'm coming from?
LUKE CAGE
Best known for inspiring Nicholas Coppola to change his name to Nicholas Cage, the youngster known only as "Lucas" was an ex-street thug sent to jail after being framed by his former employer. Undergoing an experimental treatment in exchange for early parole, he was subjected to a process similar to the one that granted Captain America his powers, which granted him super human strength and steel hard skin. Using his new powers to escape prison, he re-invented himself as Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, offering his powers to anyone for a price (the t.v. show would work best fully exploiting this concept, bringing in the superhero element while the other shows are free to explore their own niche). Early in his career, he joined forces with Iron Fist, creating the Heroes for Hire, and forging a friendship that has lasted to this day.
JESSICA JONES
Jessica Jones was first created in 2001 by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos, but was given a rich back story which placed her in key moments in Marvel history, such as being present when Peter Parker was bitten by the radioactive spider. Gaining super strength, limited vulnerbility, and the power of flight, which she never fully mastered, she had a short career as the super hero Jewel. But she gave it up after being enslaved and psychologically tortured by the mind controlling super villain The Purple Man, a thorn in Daredevil's side for a very long time, for eight months. We first meet her in her own mature series Alias (a Jessica Jones t.v show called Alter Ego was in the works a long time ago, the name change coming about because JJ Abrams and Jennifer Gardner got there first), having become a private detective (again, this is the perfect concept to run with for the t.v. show further differentiating it from the other series). It was here she began an on and off again relationship with Luke Cage, which led to the two settling down and having a daughter, Danielle.
IRON FIST
Danny Rand was the son of a wealthy entrepreneur, Wendell Rand, who was obsessed with finding the mystical city of K'un L'un after discovering it as a boy, only to leave it to make his career. On an expedition to the Himalayas to yet again search for the city when Danny was nine, his father and mother Heather were attacked by wolves, Danny being saved by Ku-Ti, the ruler of K'un L'un. There, Danny spent the next ten years learning the ways of various martial arts, soon becoming the next in a long line of Iron Fists, defender of K'un L'un, gaining the ability to concentrate his inner energy's, his Chi, in his hand, making it as hard as iron. So yeah, this t.v. show is going to be a bit strange (I haven't even talked about how he had to fight a dragon to become Iron Fist), but a fun, supernatural heavy, martial arts t.v. show maybe just what Marvel needs.
