【Dear Utol (2025): Itch Follows Episode 23】

The Dear Utol (2025): Itch Follows Episode 23unwritten rule of being a superhero dictates that when two heroes meet, they fight.

In the first trailer for The Defenders, those fights are both verbal and physical. Danny Rand (Finn Jones) tries to punch Luke Cage (Mike Colter), so Luke knocks him on his ass.

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Then Danny returns the favor, proving that while Luke may be bulletproof, he's not immune to the Immortal Iron Fist. (Someone really needs to tell Danny how obnoxious that sounds, right?)

Likewise, Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) may have super-strength, but her greatest skills are her quick wits and sharp tongue, so it's no surprise that she and Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) are already bantering up a storm in the promo.

The tagline for the series -- which brings together Marvel's four "street-level" superheroes for one action-packed team-up -- is "not here to make friends," and these vigilantes definitely don't seem like they're planning to have a slumber party and braid each other's hair after this is all over.

Here's what we know about The Defendersso far, thanks to that fight-filled trailer.

Luke's out of prison

Not that we expected the Hero of Harlem to be behind bars for long when there's a superhero team-up in progress, but it's nice to see him getting back in the groove with Claire and riding the bus past Pop's Barber Shop like the good old days, with his altruistic streak still intact.

We do briefly see him rocking an orange jumpsuit in the new footage, but we'd bet good money that New York's finest P.I. is working the case to bust him out.

Claire brings the team together

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As one of the best characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (let's get her in an Avengersmovie, already) and the connective tissue that has threaded through each of Netflix's superhero shows to date, it's fitting that Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) plays a part in uniting the team.

She's had relationships with Matt and Luke; helped Jessica save Luke's life; and generally been the voice of reason who advises Danny against all his dumbass ideas; and in the Defenderstrailer, she's also the one who introduces Luke to Danny.

Naturally, she also has to talk some sense into them when they're giving each other the stink eye, but what else is new?

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But Stick whips them into shape

Since Claire's still brushing up on her fight skills with Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick -- who only appears in the trailer for a second, which is not nearlyenough screen-time), and thus doesn't have time to be their cheerleader, this ragtag team of misfits is probably in need of a wise old mentor to keep them in line.

Luckily, the Marvel-Netflix universe already has one of those in the crotchety form of Stick (Scott Glenn), the martial arts master who trained both Daredevil and Elektra. Stick is a member of The Chaste, an ancient group that is sworn to fight The Hand, who are likely to be the primary antagonists of The Defendersfollowing their involvement in Daredeviland Iron Fist.

Plus, Stick is already great at motivational speeches, telling the group: "The war for New York is here, so get your shit together."

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What more could you ask for?

No one seems impressed with Danny

It's no secret that critics (and Team Mashable) weren't the biggest fans of Iron Fist, but we take a little comfort in the fact that the rest of the Defenders don't seem that sold on him either.

Check out how Stick describes each of the team members and tell us which one of these things is not like the other: "The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, the smartass detective, the righteous ex-con, and the kid with the glowing fist." We know that his hand is the most interesting thing about Danny, but that's still pretty faint praise.

Then there's Luke, who spends most of the trailer looking baffled by Danny's very existence, which seems fair.

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And even though Jessica is obviously going to enjoy busting allthe balls she's currently surrounded by, her side-eye game is particularly strong towards Danny.

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Someone needs to bring "the Immortal Iron Fist" back down to Earth -- we're counting on you, Defenders!

Elektra is back -- but whose side is she on?

As the end of DaredevilSeason 2 hinted, The Hand has been hard at work resurrecting Elektra, who they believe to be the Black Sky, a mystical weapon that will supposedly make the clan of warriors unstoppable.

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The Hand's master plan has always been to use Black Sky to pull off their evil scheme -- although we still don't know what that is -- and it certainly seems like they have Elektra under their control in the teaser, as she wastes no time throwing Matt through a window.

But any good superhero fan knows that the first trailer nevershows us the good stuff -- most of the footage is usually taken from the first third of the movie -- which means we shouldn't count out a change in allegiance for Matt's former paramour before The Defenders' 10 episodes are done.

Is she the one sending shockwaves through New York that can flip cars and bust the electrical grid? Definitely sounds like something a mystical weapon could do.

Sigourney Weaver has mastered the villainous slow-mo turn

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We don't know much about Sigourney Weaver's new villain Alexandra -- not even her last name -- but one thing's clear: she's already mastered the villainous art of turning around slowly for dramatic effect. If the camera had continued pulling back to reveal a white persian cat on her lap, we'd have won supervillain bingo.

We're one step closer to a Daughters of the Dragon spinoff

While Colleen only appears in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot...

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... the trailer opens with our favorite badass detective, Misty Knight (Simone Missick), who has hauled Jessica in for interfering in a citywide investigation and stealing evidence from a crime scene. Jessica was apparently attempting to help someone, but that's not enough to win her any bonus points with Misty.

While we have no evidence that Misty and Colleen will actually share a scene together in The Defenders, we have a feeling that Marvel knows just how much the fanbase wants to see these two awesome ladies fighting crime in their own Daughters of the Dragonspinoff series.

There are still too many ninjas

One of the primary criticisms of DaredevilSeason 2 and Iron FistSeason 1 was the abundance of ninjas in both series -- The Hand's forces were so multitudinous, fight scenes became a snooze as our heroes were forced to take down an unrelenting stream of assassins in almost every episode. From the first trailer, that looks like it could be a similar concern in The Defenders, so here's hoping showrunners Marco Ramirez and Doug Petrie (who were also in charge of DaredevilSeason 2) took that criticism on board.

There's a hallway fight

No Marvel-Netflix series would be complete without a spectacular fight sequence set in a hallway, and The Defendersisn't breaking that streak -- our first opportunity to truly see the team working together comes during a scene set in what looks like an office corridor. Of course, Luke and Jessica have to stop fighting just so showboat Danny Rand can have his moment to shine, but we're betting the action jumps into high gear when Elektra enters the fray.

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And this is only the first trailer -- imagine what the notoriously spoiler-averse Marvel might be holding back for fans to see when the show premieres. We've got the tingles just thinking about it!

The Defenders debuts globally on Netflix on August 18 at 12:01 a.m. PT.

In addition to the aforementioned heroes, the returning cast also includes Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson), Carrie-Anne Moss (Jeri Hogarth), Rachael Taylor (Trish Walker) and Eka Darville (Malcolm Ducasse).

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