Also, how excited are you for ‘The Defenders?”
Last night I got into a huge back and forth on Twitter about the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies and television shows, so I figured that I would replicate the rankings that I came up with on Medium too.
I grew up reading comics, and most often those comics had a Marvel label in the corner so I have a rooting interest in the shows and movies (the movies have been, on balance, less satisfying than I would have hoped).
I do think that Netflix has generally done a very good job with the television series (with one notable exception).
I totally understand that people are passionate about these shows. My rankings are just that, my rankings. You have every right to disagree (and are probably right).
Oh, before I forget, I already recap Game of Thrones, Halt and Catch Fire, Mr. Robot, Orange Is the New Black, and Black Mirror on my blog but would people be into a ‘Medium-only’ Defenders recap here? Let me know. If I do it, it will be one episode a week until I finish.
Anyway, here are my rankings, from worst to first.
Iron Fist
Suffice it to say I really hated Iron Fist.
And yes, I watched every episode from start to finish in the masochistic hope that at some point it would start being a good television show.
It never came close to becoming a good television show. Few memorable characters, some of the worst writing and acting in the entire MCU, and not exactly stellar direction either made this easily my least favorite Marvel property since the Howard the Duck movie.
Luke Cage
Sweet Christmas, I liked Luke Cage much more than many people did.
There have not been that many shows, and I would put the next three entries very close together in terms of overall quality.
Very few shows have ever made a particular vision of a specific location such an important part of a show’s plot. This is the proud and loud Harlem (aside from the crime) that stands for something important in American history.
One other thing, the music in Harlem’s Paradise is amazing (I see you Charles Bradley).
Daredevil Season 2
Season 2 of Daredevil was, IMHO, good but not great.
Charlie Cox is a decent Daredevil, Jon Bernthal is the best Punisher on screen to date, Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson continue to be a standouts in what could have been stock roles, and Vincent D’Onofrio is just flat-out a genius at almost everything he does.
But, I just didn’t care that much about the relationship between Elektra (Elodie Yung) and DD and that relationship took up a HUGE chunk of Season 2. I am not even saying Yung is a bad Elektra, I am just saying I liked most of it but didn’t love the relationship in the spine of the season.
Jessica Jones
Not sure that there have been many characters more terrifying on television than David Tennant’s ‘Purple Man.”
I remember, as a young kid, debating with friends who the most powerful superheroes or villains were (usually this would go to extremes like including Galactus etc.) but the ‘Purple Man’ is actually pretty powerful in his own right (no matter how many ‘abilities’ you have, if your mind is vulnerable to being controlled, you are at the mercy of anyone with that ability).
In the comics, several heroes could resist Killgrave’s mind control (Daredevil for instance), but Jessica Jones and many others appear totally at his mercy which is truly terrifying.
Anyway, Kristen Ritter was the perfect choice for Jessica Jones and she does a great job on a show that was quite enjoyable.
Daredevil Season 1
This is pretty simple for me, Vincent D’Onofrio is almost incomprehensibly good as Kingpin (whoops, I mean Wilson Fisk).
There are times where I watched episodes again just to ‘marvel’ over and over at subtle (and not so subtle) elements of his performance. It really was transcendent.
Don’t get me wrong, Charlie is a great Daredevil (even if the writer’s leave him a bit too much of a blank slate for my liking), Elden and Deborah Ann are great as Foggy and Karen, and Scott Glenn was really the only person who could have played Stick (he does a great David Carradine impression).
If I have a complaint, it is that Netflix was so busy creating it’s stable, that it left it’s best shows behind. Why have we been waiting so long for Daredevil Season 3 and for Jessica Jones Season 2? So we could suffer through Iron Fist?
It just seems counterproductive to choose to create six series (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, The Punisher) and risk watering down the two or three that really worked.
Plus, bad things can happen when you stretch out a production team and cast over too many years. Personally, I think all of these stories could have been layered into Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage without needing a separate Punisher, Iron Fist, of Defenders.
Now, that said, maybe The Defenders will be totally amazing and I will have to eat my words. Won’t be the first time and most certainly will not be the last.
What is your ranking? Should I cover ‘The Defenders’ here? Let me know.
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Josh is a 100% reader-funded blogger and freelance writer. Please consider following him on Twitter, throwing some money into his hat on Patreon, or adding his blog OnPirateSatellite to your feeds.
