Marvel have just debuted Iron Fist, their fourth Netflix series after Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. In an unprecedented event on the small screen, these individual runs aren't independent, but have all been building towards The Defenders, which is set to release later this year. The series, which will run a shorter eight episodes, sees the quartet finally all team up and take on Sigourney Weaver's villain.
The new show began filming at the end of October and set videos and photos have been trickling out ever since, showing the different character combinations that will be featured (as well as revealing Stan Lee's cameo). That's all over now, however, with filming having finished.
While there was no formal announcement, some of the cast and crew have shared photos from the wrap party; makeup artist Sarit Klein and Elodie Yung, who will be back as Elektra, have posted a few images from the event on Instagram.
Defenders wrap party . Makeup team in da house! These girls made this show fun and worked their ass off ! Couldn't have done it without all of U ! ❤???? A post shared by Sarit Klein (@sarklmakeup) on
How to bomb your friends's picture with class and efficiency #Defenders #defenderswrapparty A post shared by ELODIE ⚡️YUNG (@e.l.o.d.i.e.y.u.n.g) on
This wrap date would mean the production took about five months, a schedule roughly equivalent to the previous productions. With five fewer episodes, though, that suggests there are some bigger things at play than what we've come to expect from the street level action. At the very least, the show has a larger cast; not only are all four of the Defenders appearing, but also are many of the supporting characters.
Now all the footage is in the bag, this is definitely going to increase hopes of an official trailer (the one shown Comic-Con last year only teased the team-up). Some had hoped that, similar to the first teaser for Luke Cage being attached to the end of Daredevil season 2, a quick Defenders tease would've debuted with Iron Fist. That obviously didn't happen, but with production now wrapped it shouldn't be long before a teaser drops. Indeed, with some rumors suggesting The Defenders will come out this June, we may be only three months away from the show's debut.
Either way, with this only the second of three planned Marvel/Netflix series dropping this year it shouldn't be long before the marketing campaign kicks into full gear; after The Defenders arrives sometime this summer, there's The Punisher coming later in the year. Premiere dates for the newest seasons of Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and Luke Cage have not yet been revealed.
Source: Sarit Klein, Elodie Yung