So, this has been an idea which I've had in my head for a good few months. Ever since watching Luke Cage season 2 (which I feel is far superior to season 1, much like everyone else), I've found myself thinking about where the show and it's sister shows of the Marvel Netflix universe could go, even going so far as to chew my co-worker's ears off about my ideas.
Now, I have been putting off writing up this idea I'd had because I really wanted to make it something in depth. However, now that the terribly sad news that both Iron Fist and Luke Cage have been cancelled, I felt that there was little point standing on ceremony and just get on with describing how I think that Luke Cage season 2 could have been the beginning of the road to the Defenders season 2.
Beware!!! Spoilers may occur for Luke Cage season 2, Iron Fist season 2, Jessica Jones season 2, Daredevil season 3, the Immortal Iron Fist #1-27, Daredevil #1(1998)-121, #500-512 and Shadowland #1-5!!!!
You have been warned!!!!
The story so far...
So, the Defenders have all come to the forefront and, subsequently, joined forces to vanquish a common (rather dull) foe before going their separate ways again. Of those Jessica Jones has gotten involved with some conspiracy regarding the people who gave her powers (in truth, I really didn't get into this series and have yet to complete) and then came Luke Cage's second season.
In season 2, Luke Cage has been continuing his life as the hero of Harlem, seemingly relishing in the celebrity that his heroics seem to entail him. However, with the introduction of Bushmaster, this celebrity status appears to wane and Harlem sees him in a more antagonistic light. This, along with the seeming impotence that Luke feels in being unable to adequately protect Harlem, he chooses to forgo the title of Hero in exchange for becoming the 'King', a role which is validated when he's bequeathed the figurative throne in Harlem's Paradise by series villain 'Black' Mariah Stokes-Dillard.
However, this is implied as something of a poisoned chalice as the series draws to a close. Indeed, as she writes her will, Mariah explicitly reveals her motivations for handing over her livelihood to Cage, as she believes that while he will attempt to use it as a force for good, power will inherently corrupt and he would end up becoming the villain.
The Defenders - Season 2!!!
So, that is where things essentially ended, With Luke Cage taking a more powerful role within Harlem, although the question is, at what cost?
Iron Fist season 2 continued this question as it ended, with Misty Knight (having guested throughout most of the series) informing her partner in crime Colleen Wing of the change in Luke and how her newly acquired power (of the Iron Fist, which she took from Davos, who took from Danny. It makes sense if you watched the series) might be the only weapon available to take him down.
And it's this which I think would've been an awesome storyline for a second series of Defenders, to see Luke Cage corrupted by the power he now wields and his former allies of Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, Danny Rand, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing joining together to stop him and/or bring him to his senses. Now, there are a lot of plot holes in this, namely that only Colleen and Jessica could, theoretically, be a match for him, but I'm sure when thought about it could be a really great idea. This series would possibly culminate in Luke coming to his senses and the destruction of Harlem's Paradise to signify his saving from the Dark Side.
Essentially, it would be an adaption of the Andy Diggle Daredevil event; Shadowland.
What is Shadowland?
So, for those who never read it, the Shadowland took place from #500 and saw Daredevil gain control of his enemies, the Hand. Intending to use this newfound power as a force for good, Daredevil was ultimately corrupted by this power and the Shadowland event began after his senseless killing of Bullseye. However, by the end, with all of the Marvel street level heroes joining forces to stop him, it was revealed that Daredevil had been possessed by the Hand's deity, the Beast.
Now, Shadowland is not widely regarded as a high tier Daredevil story. In truth, I didn't mind it personally but felt it the man without fear's 'possession' was ham fisted and ruined a good story about power corrupting. Also, I didn't think that the lead up to this was a bit short and could have done with an extra arc or two to really cement the turn to villainy.
That said, regardless of the shortcomings, it was an idea which (in my opinion) had some merit and the parallels between where the story started and where Luke Cage season 2 ended just look too similar to pass up loosely adapting the concept to work with Cage as the lead instead of Daredevil.
The road to Defenders.
So, how would we have gotten there? Well, if we had been lucky and nothing was cancelled then I think we'd have probably gotten another series of the four core characters under our belt to feed us to the big battle. Each of these series would have essentially been a series long 'vs' battle for each of the characters on a deeply personal level.
First up there would obviously have been Daredevil season 3 (which I'm about half way through at this point). Having watch half, I've already gotten some theories on how it will end. First of all, Matt Murdock (who I realised has had quite the emotional journey, going from a vigilante to a symbol to wanting to be just Murdock and now just Daredevil) would find the balance he has always craved between his two lives. He would send Fisk back to Prison and defeat Bullseye (although I'd suspect Karen would have died as she did in the Guardian Devil run (#1-6 by Kevin Smith) and bury the Hatchet with Foggy, who would win to become District Attorney.
Meanwhile, Agent Nadeem, the financially insecure FBI agent, having had his reputation tarnished by putting his faith in Fisk would have learned that Murdock is Daredevil and, in order to make some money, would sell this information to the New York Bulletin. I can imagine the final scene of the series would be Foggy picking up a paper to reveal the headline 'Matt Murdock is Daredevil.'
And so, that would set up series four, which would cover much of the Bendis 'Out' storyline (between Guardian Devil and Shadowland) and would essentially by Nelson vs Murdock and D.A Nelson would be torn between upholding the law and protecting his friend while Murdock would have to figure out how to be Daredevil under a greater level of scrutiny.
Meanwhile, across town it would be Jessica Jones series 3, which would in a sense be Jessica Jones vs the World. Now, while I'm not clued into where series 2 ended I do know that she gains some sense of normality. Now I believe that this normality would be threaten by the likes of Hogarth and Trish, both of whom sought out IGH previously and she would have to come back into her life to put an ended to her creator's legacy once and for all.
In Iron Fist, I would have like to have seen series 3 focus on the Brubaker/Fraction and beyond run of the Immortal Iron Fist. This would have seen adaptations of the last Iron Fist story and the Mortal Iron Fist as Danny and Ward would seek out Orson Randall in an Iron Fist vs Iron Fist story, a prior Iron Fist who went into hiding to escape a killer of Iron Fists, hoping to use Davos' plan in the prior series to create a scapegoat of sorts for this killer to follow instead.
This would lead to a notion which Ed Brisson's recent Iron Fist run introduced whereby Danny would absorb the chi and Iron Fist power from Orson and Colleen, who would spend the series realising she doesn't need the power to be a hero, in order to become powerful enough to defeat this killer. The end of this series would then hint at the seven cities of Heaven story as well as the eighth city for a future series.
And finally, Luke Cage season 3 would be Luke battling himself as he straddles the line between continuing his life as the Hero for Harlem and becoming the crime boss Harlem's Paradise creates in him. As stated, this would be a loose parable of Shadowland as Luke finds himself making more and more questionable decisions which should, towards the end of the series, bring Colleen over for a guest fight between the two. By the end, Luke should become truly villainous, thus leading us into a second series of Defenders.
Of course, all these thoughts by me are a little bit moot now, with the cancellation of both Iron Fist and Luke Cage (and probably the rest if my cynicism is to be believed) but I did like the depth at which I seemed to go on this idea and, therefore, I figured it would be worth sharing.
Besides, it might all still be salvageable and Marvel/Netflix may continue to go on.
And if it does, do let them know that I'm for hire!!
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