The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been growing ever since Nick Fury appeared in the post-credits scene following Iron Man, essentially announcing a shared universe based around The Avengers. However, the MCU has grown to include a number of other characters aside from Earth's Mightiest Heroes. For instance, Marvel teamed up with Netflix to develop a more focused, and geographically smaller, universe with solo series for heroes like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. Now, although the first season of Iron Fist set to debut in March, Marvel and Netflix are additionally gearing up to premiere the team-up miniseries, The Defenders.

Following their introductions on the various series, the heroes of New York City - Matt Murdock aka Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter), and Danny Rand aka Iron Fist (Finn Jones) - are teaming up to take on Sigourney Weaver's villain, Alexandra. Now, a new batch of photos for The Defenders feature the titular heroes along with supporting characters from their respective shows.

EW released the photos, which include promotional shots of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. But, the batch of images also features stills from The Defenders that showcase Luke Cage in prison (he was, after all, taken in by the U.S. Marshals at the end of his season), as well as supporting players Misty Knight (Simone Missick) and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick). Take a look at the photos in the gallery below:

[vn_gallery name="Marvel’s The Defenders: EW Image Gallery" id="878420"]

In addition to Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, The Defenders will also feature Daredevil's Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), Elektra (Elodie Yung), and Stick (Scott Glenn); Jessica Jones' Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Ann Moss), Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor), and Malcolm Ducasse (Eka Darville); and Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), who has appeared in all of Marvel's Netflix series. Although the first official look at The Defenders arrived today, photos from the set have teased some of what's to come.

These new official images don't offer much more to go on than the set photos - we previously saw a standoff between Misty Knight and Jessica Jones that may either precede or shortly follow the scene in the above gallery. Still, fans of Marvel's Netflix universe will likely be excited to see many fan-favorite characters back for The Defenders, particularly Misty Knight. And, while these photos confirm The Defenders will pick up Luke Cage's story where his solo series left off, the events of Iron Fist are still to come before this particular point in the timeline.

So, while fans may be especially excited to see the four Marvel Netflix heroes join forces in The Defenders, there's still plenty we don't know about the plot of the series or just how much screen time each of the supporting players will receive. That said, with The Defenders confirmed for a summer release (The Punisher, the third Marvel Netflix series of 2017, will likely arrive in the fall), fans won't have to wait too much longer for the team-up to hit the streaming service.

Next: The Defenders Confirmed for Summer 2017 Premiere

Daredevil seasons 1 and 2, Jessica Jones season 1, and Luke Cage season 1 are now available on Netflix. Iron Fist will premiere on March 17, 2017. The Defenders and The Punisher will arrive in 2017. Premiere dates for the newest seasons of Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and Luke Cage have not yet been announced.

Source: EW