23. Marvel’s The Defenders (Netflix: 2017)
The Defenders was Netflix’s attempt at an Avengers-style crossover, so its success, like The Avengers, hinged heavily on the interplay among its four central heroes. Thankfully, it mostly nailed that part: The show is at its best and most interesting when the Defenders are all in the same room, bickering, and dunking on Danny. But where Defenders succeeded in characterization, it unfortunately failed elsewhere. The action sequences, while well choreographed, suffered from a lack of variety (so many faceless ninjas). Even worse was the show’s bland plot—The Hand, a mysterious, shadow organization led by an under-used Sigourney Weaver, is trying to unearth ancient dragon bones buried under Manhattan—which took forever to get going. [Baraka Kaseko]
