In the past week, Netflix has spoiled us with the release of a promo, a trailer, and a banner for Marvel’s The Defenders. They were released in quick succession, almost one day after another; hardly giving us time to catch our breath before the next fantastic piece of promotional material hit us in the face like a batch of mysterious chemicals (sorry, too soon?).

Anyway, while the release of all these things in such rapid succession is wonderful (seriously, I am not complaining; please don’t take my following comments as complaints in any way, shape, or form), but because they came out so close together, the impact of the individual bits was lessened.

For instance, the first thing to come out was the promo that teased the return of Elektra.

This video also includes the team promo, as well as the original teaser trailer. However, the first 14 seconds of the video involve mysterious hands, Elektra’s coffin, and the creepy hiss of said coffin opening.

This leaves us with the burning question: is she ALIVE?

If she is, clearly The Hand had a, well, hand in resurrecting her, since they seem to be the root of all The Defenders problems at this point. This promises nothing good, as Elektra wasn’t exactly a paragon of truth and justice before she kicked the metaphorical bucket. I don’t see that changing, especially as it looks like the blood of The Beast was used in her (potential) Lazarus-esque return. Yeah, I don’t imagine that her resurrection will bring anything but conflict, death, and Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) angst.

(Which, honestly, should be illegal. Seriously, Daredevil writers, would it kill ya to let him be happy for a change? He’s a beautiful and snarky human being, and it should be a crime to make those big brown eyes tear up like that. No more I say. NO. MORE!)

Aaaaanyway. Right. I had a point.

These 14 seconds of footage were very interesting, and would have been enough to keep The Defenders fanbase aflutter with speculation and fan-theories. Is she alive? If so, is she being resurrected as herself, or as the her that was controlled by The Hand? Or is this all a red herring?

But there was no time for any wild theories to form, because the very next day Netflix released the first official trailer for the show. And, not only did the trailer overshadow the Elektra promo, it actually included a couple images of resurrected-Elektra, thereby removing any ambiguous mystery and making the promo release almost superfluous – Elektra looks way too good to be anything but now-alive.

Seriously, Elodie Yung (Elektra) needs to share her secret, because she looks mighty fine for someone who’s been dead since the season 2 finale of Daredevil (and presumably throughout the first seasons of Luke Cage and Iron Fist). I dunno how long that is in The Defenders universe, but I imagine long enough that she shouldn’t look like she’s just taking a nice nap.

But, again, there are no complaints from me, because the official trailer is BRILLIANT.

It opens with Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) in interrogation, who is reluctantly rescued by my favorite lawyer (wow, words I never thought I’d ever type). Anyway, the trailer only takes off from there.

Iron Fist (Finn Jones) and Luke Cage (Mike Colter) clash, with tensions (partially) defused by Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson). What then follows is, definitely, the best description of any superhero group ever:

 

“The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen…

The Smart-Ass Detective…

The Righteous Ex-Con…

And the Kid with a Glowing Fist…”

 

And yet, somehow, I have the feeling that they’re gonna have some serious trouble going head to head with Sigourney Weaver (Alien) – but I mean, seriously, who wouldn’t? She’s been confirmed as the main antagonist for the series, and goes by the name Alexandra. Combined with the revived threat of Elektra, there promises to be much conflict and misfortune for our newly formed band of intrepid street-heroes.

The trailer also promises the return of Stick (Scott Glenn), Misty Knight(Simone Missick), and freaking hallway fight scenes! YES!

Also, that last scene gives me hope that the dialogue will be snappy, snarky, and all around better written than that of Iron Fist’s. And that’s all I’m saying about that.

But wait! Did you forget about the banner that Netflix released the very next day? If so, how? I mentioned it in the title of the article, there’s no way you could have missed it. Anyway, like I said, the next day Netflix showed off their banner for the show. In it, The Defenders made sure to, shall I say, put their best foot forward. I know, I’m terrible, but take a look for yourself:

It’s gorgeous, and gives the gang a classic “rock band” look. Seriously, I’m a huge fan of everything that they’re doing to promote the show.

For instance, they’ve even created a website called the New York Bulletin Archive. On it, you can find tons of fake articles and interviews that tie in with the various Defenders shows. It’s fantastic.

And that’s it. That’s all I’ve got (for the moment). This should be enough to tide the fanbase over until August 18^th, when the first season of The Defenders premieres.

Of course, should Netflix decide to promo-dump some more trailers and posters and teasers, I certainly won’t complain.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED WITH POP CULTURE PIPE BOMB, ON MAY 6, 2017.