The Defenders Early Reviews: 10 Critical Reactions You Must See

9. The Pacing Is Still Kinda Slow

"Even with fewer episodes, you can still feel that Marvel/Netflix narrative drag. It’s not until the end of episode three that the crime-fighting quartet is finally formed (with predictable reluctance) and we start to feel we’re watching a show with its own style and identity rather than intercut clips from the solo outings." - Empire

"While the first four episodes are good and fun to watch, they take a little while to get going. We don’t see all four of the Defenders in the same room until the end of the third episode when we finally get that hallway fight that we’ve been waiting for...Each of them are on their own path that eventually ends up with the three of them fighting the same enemy but it takes considerable time for the four of them to get there." - Bleeding Cool

"Let’s start with a truth: The Defenders are much better together than they are apart. And that is why the show doesn’t really come together until they do...It takes too long for them to team-up. If you thought Defenders would be a culminating chapter to the other Netflix Marvel series so far, think again. So far it feels like another prelude, and it makes one wonder if we’ll ever get to the main event." - Collider

Even though this show is roughly one-third shorter than most other MCU Netflix shows, there was still a general feeling among reviewers that the series has its own set of pacing issues.

The chief problem? The titular heroes don't band together properly until the end of episode three, at which point the show is almost half-done. Waiting this long might've made sense in a thirteen-episode order, but in just eight, it seems rather misguided.

Far from the streamlined "Avengers of TV" that most were hoping for, it seems like The Defenders is front-loaded with build-up and separate stories that eventually coalesce into a (hopefully) more satisfying whole.