facebook-pixel

Scott D. Pierce: Marvel's superhero team 'Defenders' is a slow burn on Netflix

(Sarah Shatz|Netflix) Krysten Ritter, Finn Jones, Charlie Cox and Mike Colter star in “The Defenders.”

Superheroes have been teaming up in the comic books for more than 75 years, so it’s no surprise that Netflix is giving us “The Defenders” — a lower-budget way of creating a TV version of Marvel’s two “Avengers” hits and DC’s “Justice League” (coming in November).

That’s not an insult. Hey, I love TV. But even Netflix — which continues to spend mountains of cash on programming — can’t afford to do a series with a budget anything like a theatrical blockbuster.

Nor does TV have access to A-list superheroes. So Netflix signed up for blind vigilante Daredevil (Charlie Cox), superstrong detective Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), bullet-proof Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and martial-arts master Iron Fist (Finn Jones) — and the combination of the four in “The Defenders,” which begins streaming Friday.

Their solo series have been uneven. The second season of “Daredevil” was better than the first. “Jessica Jones” and “Luke Cage” were both very good at times, not so good at other times. And “Iron Fist” was just bad.

(They’re also extremely violent and intended for adults. Kids should not be watching. And the language is frequently adult — including one of the more mild expletives, heard in the clip below.)

None of the previous seasons had enough plot to fill 13 episodes, so eight episodes for “The Defenders” is a good move.

(Netflix screened the first four episodes for critics.)

It takes the four “Defenders” a considerable amount of time to actually team up. Be warned — you’ll have to spend hours watching the various heroes and their mentors and sidekicks separately.

The four leads don’t meet at all in Episode 1. There are a couple of scenes that feature the characters in pairs at the end of Episode 2.

They aren’t all in the same scene until the end of Episode 3, and they’re not forming a team — they’re beating up on each other. Hard.

It’s not until Episode 4 that they actually meet and get acquainted and begin to talk about how they might form their own superhero team.

The slow build is for subscribers who not only did not read any comic books, but didn’t watch any of Netflix’s Marvel series. Yes, you can watch “The Defenders” without watching any of the previous shows.

And you’re better off not watching the dreadful “Iron Fist.” That character works much better as a jerk nobody likes in “The Defenders.”

“The Defenders” does get considerably more interesting when the four leads finally start talking, but the series’ success or failure is going to depend on the four episodes critics haven’t seen. We do know that the heroes will battle The Hand, a group of evil ninjas that served as the villains in “Daredevil” and “Iron Fist.”

They haven’t been great foils in the past … so that’s not exactly encouraging.

Basically, if you enjoyed the previous Marvel series on Netflix, you’ll probably like this one. And if you’re looking for dark superhero entertainment, check out “The Defenders.”

Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.