I really disliked the Luke Cage series, especially after being given a completely different written character when we first met him in Jessica Jones. He was MUCH better and more charismatic in JJ. So while I didn't care for the performances of either Colter or Misty Knight in the Luke Cage series, I blame that almost completely on the insipid writing and the directing that appeared to be aware that they needed 50 minutes of 'stuff' for each episode, but only had maybe 30 minutes of script, which meant everything had to be SLOOOOOOWED DOWWWWWWWN. It was absurd waiting for the huge gaps of dead space between every line. It was also humorless and grim. The Luke Cage we saw in JJ was nothing like that. Hopefully the two of them will have better material to work with in the next season of LC, and the Defenders. Oh and I am forcing myself to get all the way through Iron Fist, I have two episodes to go. I don't care that the guy is white, and anyone who does is an idiot. I DO care that the scripts have given us NOTHING compelling about the character, or the characters around him. When Claire is the best-realized character in the show, and we realize it's ONLY because she was already formed from having been in the 4 other series, then you know someone in a suit somewhere messed up. Finn Jones may eventually be fine in the role, but I have not yet once got a sense that he is the world's greatest martial artist. And he needs a haircut and a shave. And he needs to actually FIGHT and be a BADASS (which I have not seen yet at all, he gets his butt kicked all the time) just like DD. As it is, the writing and direction of the last two series has left me very disappointed, especially after being so pleasantly surprised with DD and JJ. Get it together Marvel!
Curious about The Defenders but still need to watch Luke Cage and Iron Fist, I've had a hard time working up the desire to see them after all the bad word of mouth.....
Misty Knight and Colleen Wing Elektra could be upgraded though. Dafuq was that Ellen Ripley? Guns ablazing.
Luke Cage is legit. I started Iron Fist but stopped after episode 5 a few weeks ago and haven't restarted it. That one is very slow to begin with apparently but Cage is a can't miss.
I think Iron Fist is worth watching although clearly not as good as JJ or Daredevil Luke Cage on the other hand is borderline unwatchable. You would probably be completely fine skipping it entirely.
Trailer has me sold. Feels odd hearing Nirvana playing in the background although I guess it shouldn't. They've been playing their tracks on video game commercials and I'm sure other adverts for awhile now. The fight choreography looks more akin to Daredevil than the weak fight choreography from Iron Fist. I think if they made the combat in Iron Fist look better, it might have received a little more favorable reviews than it did.
They really sullied the emerging Daredevil brand by including all these jarbonis and forcing them into a story. Bernthal distanced himself from this? Good call.
The first half of Luke Cage was fine, probably the same as Iron Fist. The second half of Luke Cage was absolutely stupid. JJ and Daredevil season 2 are way better than the rest
Perhaps that's why they named it The Defenders. So that they could join forces against all the people reviewing their shows.
Iron Fist was terrible, but you need to watch it to understand certain things about the overall universe
Well said. But you neglected to mention the worst part of Luke Cage: the villain(s)! Two dudes who had snake nicknames. Snake 1 was just ok as a character, but I liked that actor (from HoC and now a star thanks to Moonlight) so I was patient. Finally, they went into his story a bit and his character actually meant something. Woohoo! But then bam, that same episode, he's unceremoniously killed. And we get a new bad guy (Snake 2) who is the dumbest, most cartoony character in Marvel studios history. Jesus Christ what a terrible letdown after Kingpin and Mr Purple. And in hindsight it's even worse, since like I said that Snake 1 is now a star. Such a waste of a great talent. Luke Cage and Snake 2 were so bad that I haven't watched a single episode of Iron Fist, and I have no intent to. I'll wait for The Defenders and DD season 3 and JJ season 2.
This is a great post that nails it except I will watch Iron Fist right before Defenders comes out. Also, Mike Colter is a big reason Luke Cage wasn't better. He has no business as a lead actor. Hopefully a reduced role in Defenders will suit him better.
