Review embargo for Netflix's and Marvel's The Defenders is up now. They are based on the first 4 episodes of the season. The show will release on August 18.
Empire Online - ★★★
We Got This Covered - ★★★★
441mania - 9/10
Collider - ★★★
This Is Insider - B
Washington Post
Decider
io9 Gizmodo
TV Guide
Empire Online - ★★★
Even so, there is enough joy in watching the sparks fly as these four alpha characters finally collide to make you feel The Defenders might just have been worth the wait. It's a long-anticipated crossover series that delivers some engaging character clashes, but which fails — in the first half at least — to up the ante story-wise.
We Got This Covered - ★★★★
While the show starts as something of a slow burn, once the heroes come together, it more than lives up to the promise fans have been clamoring to see realized. It may not be the strongest Marvel Netflix series thus far (that would be a toss-up between Daredevil and Jessica Jones), but The Defenders splits the differences between its leads, creating something that even casual fans of these shows shouldn't miss.
441mania - 9/10
The Defenders is so far off to a promising start. The return of all these great characters is fantastic, but the heroes getting to meet and interact with each other for the first time is equally satisfying. Sigourney Weaver's Alexandra, despite being steeped in mystery, might turn out to be the show's most interesting character. Consider the rating a bit of a placeholder, and that rating might change after the rest of the season has been released. Once, The Defenders gets moving and Iron Fist meets Luke Cage for the first time is where the show really starts taking off.
Collider - ★★★
It's something new, but it has a lot of problems. It's a tonal mishmash as it brings these characters together (including a very cringe-worthy decision to play hip hop every time we see Luke in the first hour when no one else gets a soundtrack — we get it, guys; he's black), but the interactions among the heroes are always great. There's just not enough of it to start, and it takes too long for them to team-up. If you thought Defenders would be a culminating chapter to the other Netflix Marvel series so far, think again. So far it feels like another prelude, and it makes one wonder if we'll ever get to the main event.
This Is Insider - B
When they all finally come together, fans may be sad to learn the mini-series will already be halfway over. Unlike every other 13-episode Marvel Netflix series, "The Defenders" is a short eight episodes, making you wish they all came together sooner. Since the first four episodes are a bit slow, I'm concerned the next four may feel rushed to take down the organization both Iron Fist and Daredevil have been trying to take down for seasons. Hopefully, I'm wrong.
Washington Post
And so it seems Marvel's connected Netflix universe is back on track with no apparent ”Fist" hangover. The biggest question going into this street-level hero team-up was how four shows with such different vibes would come together as one. The best part of ”The Defenders"? Watching how they make that happen.
Decider
Ultimately, The Defenders had to successfully accomplish one huge thing: justify 65 episodes of build-up. Despite a slow start, the show comes through on its promise and gives the heroes a threat worthy of their newly united attention. Defenders also doesn't sacrifice the vital voices of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage when it throws them in a very Daredevil-y plot, and Defenders even makes Iron Fist work. These characters work so well together, it's now hard to imagine them apart.
io9 Gizmodo
However, the good of The Defenders far outweighs the bad. The story isn't revolutionary, and as usual, the villains have a typically over-the-top and hilariously convoluted plan—but it's all a canvas to showcase Matt, Jessica, Luke, and Danny coming together as a team. They're not just stronger together than they are apart—it turns out they're more entertaining, too.
TV Guide
There are other villains introduced, characters who make surprising returns. And when I say Defenders isn't like Avengers, don't worry: there's an inciting incident at the end of the first episode that creates gigantic stakes for the heroes. This series is still pretty huge. But like we mentioned earlier, it comes down to them as individuals. It's about how their separate journeys bring them together. The episodes build, and build, getting faster, funnier and better as they go. If that continues in the back half, Defenders is going to be one hell of a ride.
Just don't call it an eight hour long movie.