Marvel's The Defenders: 10 Spoiler-Free Reactions To First Four Episodes

8. Danny Can Still Be Annoying, But Fits In Better Here

Iron Fist was the first real critical failure of the Netflix Marvel Universe and, while not all his fault, a fair bit of the blame landed at the feet (or hand) of Finn Jones and his portrayal of Danny Rand. The character came off as irritating and immature, rather than the immortal Iron Fist, and was one of the bigger concerns heading into The Defenders.

Given filming wrapped two days after Iron Fist was released, there's no notion of them changing things up because of the reception to that show, and indeed Danny is put front-and-centre here. As the one with the most direct contact with the Hand, he becomes the one pushing the others forward into conflict with them.

This is, however, a changed Danny. He still has some of those annoying tendencies we saw in Iron Fist, and Jones hasn't suddenly become an actor bursting with charisma. But without the responsibility of being the sole main character it's not as egregious, and there is an added maturity to him now that he's more fully at peace with being back in New York, who he is, and what he needs to do. As evidenced in the trailers, the others do take the piss out of him a fair bit, but he actually more openly and willingly works with as a team than the rest, and, in a nod to Heroes for Hire, already starts forming a fun bond with Luke Cage.