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Marvel on Netflix: news, reviews, and trailers on the streaming service’s MCU shows

Netflix’s corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand year by year. Its interconnected series, each focused on a single street-level superhero in New York City, began in 2015 with Daredevil and Jessica Jones. As new shows are added (Luke Cage, Iron Fist, the four-way crossover The Defenders, and the spinoff The Punisher), the protagonists keep building their own mythologies and battling their own demons as much as they battle villains. As their multiseries story keeps growing, we’ll track it here.

  • Oct 19, 2017

    Andrew Liptak

    Netflix’s Punisher series will begin streaming November 17th

    Frank Castle is coming to Netflix. The first season of Marvel’s series about the vigilante antihero The Punisher finally has a release date: November 17th. The announcement came along with a new trailer that shows off some of Castle’s origins.

    The 13-episode season will begin streaming the same day that another big superhero franchise hits theaters: DC’s Justice League. That doesn’t seem like a coincidence. Netflix greenlit The Punisher after the character (played by Jon Bernthal) was introduced in the second season of Daredevil, and in the first two trailers we’ve seen, the show is promising a bloody, gun-filled affair. The show appears to have a government conspiracy and thriller feel, which should set it apart from the rest of Marvel’s Netflixverse: Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and The Defenders. The early looks show off Frank Castle as he goes up against federal agents and tackles a government conspiracy, all in an attempt to deal with his family’s death.

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  • Sep 20, 2017

    Andrew Liptak

    Watch the bloody first trailer for Netflix’s The Punisher

    When The Defenders hit Netflix in August, it came with a short teaser trailer for the next big Netflix/Marvel show: The Punisher. Now, the streaming service has released a full trailer for the new show, showing off Jon Bernthal’s antihero in his full glory.

    The trailer shows Castle suiting up as the character with his iconic skull vest as he takes a tough-on-crime approach to New York City’s underworld after discovering a conspiracy. Along the way, he’s pursued by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. He’s not going it alone: he’ll be joined by Microchip, an ally of Castle’s from the comics. The trailer sets up The Punisher with its own distinct tone that’s different from the other Marvel Netflix shows. It wades into government conspiracies and hacking, which is reminiscent of shows like CBS’s Person of Interest or USA’s Mr. Robot, but with more gunfire.

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  • Aug 18, 2017

    Megan Farokhmanesh

    The Defenders is a blueprint on how to make Iron Fist suck less

    Iron Fist is the weakest hero of Marvel’s Netflix run. He’s a cartoonish character with no real depth, one who wields power through nonsensical actions. But though the Iron Fist viewers met in the eponymous show was a failure of imagination, The Defenders series itself improves upon Danny Rand in a real way. Or at the very least, depicts him as somewhat less of a train wreck.

    As a serious superhero venture, Iron Fist was destined to walk a rockier path than its sister shows. Jessica Jones focuses on sexual assault, abuse, and overcoming the trauma associated with those experiences. Luke Cage elevates a bulletproof black superhero, fighting for justice and the common man in Harlem. Even Daredevil, despite essentially starring a blind ninja, is grounded by the ordinary elements of Matt Murdock’s lawyer life. Iron Fist has neither the thematic nor character foundations to justify the same kind of ultra-serious take. Instead, it leans into its ridiculous premise — and its idiot of a hero.

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  • Aug 18, 2017

    Megan Farokhmanesh

    Watch the latest teaser trailer for The Punisher

    The Defenders hits Netflix today, and with it comes a look at Marvel’s upcoming show The Punisher. Frank Castle was introduced in season 2 of Daredevil. He’s played by Jon Bernthal, who will reprise his role as the gun-toting Army vet out for revenge.

    Various rips of the trailer are popping up all over YouTube, much like the one above. The teaser features Bernthal reflecting on the past in a voice-over while hammering away at a cement floor.

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  • Aug 16, 2017

    Megan Farokhmanesh

    The Defenders amplifies Marvel’s Netflix ideology, warts and all

    It’s hard to pinpoint what, exactly, The Defenders stand for. Good and justice in the world, obviously, since they’re superheroes. And then… what else? If past Marvel shows like Jessica Jones are an instrument, delicately tuned for individual stories about the complications of vigilantism, the new Netflix crossover series The Defenders is a blunt object swinging into a car window.

    The Defenders unites the protagonists of Netflix’s Marvel shows Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Daredevil, and Iron Fist. It picks up after the end of the latter series, with Danny Rand still hunting down members of the deadly organization known as the Hand. His findings lead him to believe the Hand is preoccupied with New York City, also home to the rest of the would-be Defenders. Jessica Jones is tracking a case, Matt Murdock is brought in as her lawyer, and Luke Cage is trying to help a local kid who’s gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd. Their individual pursuits eventually lead them all to the same place at the same time, and chaos ensues. The group grudgingly has to unite to take down the Hand.

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  • Kwame Opam

    May 10, 2017

    Kwame Opam

    Jessica Jones trolling Iron Fist on Twitter is a stroke of genius

    It’s largely accepted by now that Iron Fist is Marvel’s weakest Netflix series, given the widespread critical opinion that it’s a boring, often offensive mess. But with The Defenders on its way, the show is still an integral piece of the superhero crossover puzzle. Danny Rand and his glowing fist aren’t going away anytime soon, and Marvel can’t sweep either of them under the rug. So what’s the best way to charge through this mess? Have some fun with it.

    In a tweet sent by Netflix’s official account for Jessica Jones, the snarky super-detective ribs Iron Fist for looking mildly ridiculous in the Defenders trailer:

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  • Kwame Opam

    Mar 8, 2017

    Kwame Opam

    Iron Fist isn't just racially uncomfortable, it's also a boring show

    David Giesbrecht/Netflix

    With the debut of Netflix’s Iron Fist now imminent, Marvel is on the defensive. The studio is in an uncomfortable position: its three earlier streaming series, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, all received plenty of buzzy reception ahead of their respective launches. But Iron Fist was met with scrutiny and criticism before it even went into production. That criticism centers mainly on the optics of a white man starring in a series rooted in Orientalist stereotypes, which collides directly with the ongoing conversation about the diversity in Marvel’s superhero properties. Given the company’s self-appointed position as a champion for inclusion in comic book storytelling, Marvel has had no choice but to meet the backlash head-on.

    “There needs to be more diversity in television and film, especially for Asian actors,” series star Finn Jones told BuzzFeed last month. “With this instance in particular, what I struggle with and what frustrates me is that people are commenting on the headline without understanding the full picture, without understanding the full story.”

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  • Oct 23, 2016

    Andrew Liptak

    Jessica Jones' next season will be directed entirely by women

    Jessica Jones still
    Netflix

    When Jessica Jones returns to Netflix for its second season, women will be behind the cameras directing each episode, according to the show’s executive producer, Melissa Rosenberg.

    Rosenberg made the remarks on Friday at the Transforming Hollywood 7: Diversifying Entertainment conference held at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Variety reports that the production had already placed an emphasis on hiring female directors, "but then someone else involved in the production — [Rosenberg] didn’t specify who — floated the idea of booking only women as directors."

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  • Kwame Opam

    Sep 29, 2016

    Kwame Opam

    Luke Cage's take on black power in America makes it must-see TV

    If Netflix’s Luke Cage is about anything, it’s about power — and no word is imbued with as much unique power in black life as “nigga.” Luke Cage himself makes that much clear. Early on in the new series, Luke (Mike Colter) is held up at gunpoint. “What’re you doing here, nigga?” asks the young, black gunman. “Young man,” Luke says, “I’ve had a long day. I’m tired. But I’m not tired enough to ever let nobody call me that word. You see a nigga standing in front of you?” Luke is an invulnerable superhero who can’t be harmed by any old bullet. But his defiant response exposes his vulnerability, and the pain he feels lashed to the word. When the youth replies, “Yeah. A dead one,” Luke’s frustration is palpable.

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  • Kwame Opam

    Sep 26, 2016

    Kwame Opam

    Harlem is a gangster's paradise in the final Luke Cage trailer

    Marvel's Luke Cage is only days away from its premiere on Netflix, so there's just enough time for one more trailer. In this new spot we get a closer look not at Luke Cage, but his main adversary, Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes, played House of Cards alum Mahershala Ali. Cottonmouth is gangster supreme in Harlem, and is clearly as dangerous as he is charismatic. But with the indestructible Luke Cage in his sights, the neighborhood has suddenly gotten a lot more dangerous.

    Luke Cage is only the latest Marvel series on Netflix, and early reviews promise a taut, thrilling action series that draws lovingly from the black experience. The series premieres this Friday.

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  • Kwame Opam

    Nov 23, 2015

    Kwame Opam

    On Jessica Jones, rape doesn’t need to be seen to be devastating

    It’s only been out in the world for four days, but Netflix’s Jessica Jones is already one of the most talked about new shows this fall. It has the distinction of being Marvel’s first property starring a female superhero, but it’s also a great show by any metric, balancing superheroics with an honest look at how people — and women most of all — cope with trauma. Like many shows that came before it, the series uses rape to move the drama forward. But the series feels different in how it treats the subject overall.

    Rape — specifically its visual depiction — figured prominently in 2015. The most visible example was almost certainly Game of Thrones, with the now-infamous rape of Sansa Stark. But there have been plenty of other instances in recent years in which we’ve watched women suffer through the violence of the experience — from Joan on Mad Men to Anna on Downton Abbey to Mellie on Scandal. Each scene has left audiences shocked, filling their Twitter feeds with righteous outrage, but rarely for very long.

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  • Kwame Opam

    Oct 7, 2015

    Kwame Opam

    Marvel releases free Jessica Jones comic featuring Netflix's Daredevil

    Marvel's next Netflix series Jessica Jones will be available for streaming next month, so it makes sense that the company is making a big push to get comics fans excited. In addition to the recent spate of teaser trailers (like the one above), Marvel has today released a free comic on Comixology to celebrate the show's release.

    The new book is by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos — part of the same creative team behind the critically acclaimed Jessica Jones series, Alias, that ran from 2001 to 2004. Here, we're introduced to Jones, a private detective in Hell's Kitchen who's handling a case involving a man recently taken down by Daredevil himself. And right off the bat, it's clear Jones has no problem with the Devil of Hell's Kitchen's particular brand of justice.

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