S.J. Clarkson, a director and executive producer on Marvel and Netflix's The Defenders, has revealed why the show's New York superheroes don't meet up in the first episode. The Defenders is Marvel TV's first-ever major crossover event, bringing Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones) together to fight The Hand - a mysterious group that operates under the supervision of the enigmatic Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver).

Following two seasons of Daredevil the TV series and single seasons of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, the 8-episode Defenders miniseries drops on Friday, August 18.  The wait, however, for the foursome to finally come together will be a bit longer - as they encounter each other only in passing in the series premiere, not knowing that they are bound to eventually become a team. While that may come as disappointing news to those fans eager to see The Defenders properly unite Clarkson promises that the wait will be worth it.

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Speaking to The Wrap, Clarkson - who directed the first two episodes of The Defenders - explained why the show starts with its heroes doing their own things separate from one another:

“My hope is that people who haven’t seen any of the shows might tune in and watch “The Defenders,” and enjoy it in its own right. Well, I actually think there’s no rush for those people because they don’t know them. So you want time to sort of reintroduce the characters and sort of spend time with them, to really understand who they are, understand where they’re at, so when they do finally meet I think the payoff is greater cause you’ve had time to sit with them and settle in where they are.”

Clarkson also explained how this storytelling approach makes The Defenders accessible to newcomers, yet at the same time rewarding for those viewers who have seen all of the previous Marvel/Netflix TV shows:

“I wanted it to feel like is when you watch it you were being introduced to these characters for the first time but equally, if you were familiar with them, you were sitting back down with an old friend."

All things considered, this sounds like a good way to show what Matt, Jessica, Luke, and Danny are up to on their own, before they have to come together and foil Alexandra's plans. This should allow the dynamic between the heroes to develop in a more organic fashion, in addition to making it easier for them to set them off to their respective adventures once again, once The Defenders season one has concluded.

That approach seems to have mostly panned out too, with The Defenders' early reviews having proven to be mostly positive thus far. The main gripe, however, that critics seem to have with the series is the inconsistency of its pace - a seemingly recurring problem with even the solo Marvel/Netflix shows, as it were.

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The Defenders premieres August 18 on Netflix, followed by The Punisher season 1 sometime this fall. Premiere dates for the new seasons of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist have yet to be announced.

Source: The Wrap