| The Defenders | |
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| Genre | |
| Created by |
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| Based on | |
| Showrunner | Marco Ramirez |
| Starring | |
| Composer | John Paesano |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producer | Evan Perazzo |
| Production location | New York City |
| Cinematography |
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| Editors |
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| Running time | 44–55 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | Netflix |
| Release | August 18, 2017 |
| Related | |
| Marvel's Netflix television series | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Marvel's The Defenders is an American television miniseries created by Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez for the streaming service Netflix, based on the Marvel Comics characters Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, who form the eponymous superhero team. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the franchise's films. The miniseries is a crossover event and the culmination of four previously released interconnected series from Marvel and Netflix. It was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, Nine and a Half Fingers, Inc., and Goddard Textiles, with Ramirez serving as showrunner.
The series stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Daredevil, Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, and Finn Jones as Danny Rand / Iron Fist, all reprising their roles from their individual series. It also stars Eka Darville, Elden Henson, Jessica Henwick, Simone Missick, Ramón Rodríguez, Rachael Taylor, Deborah Ann Woll, Élodie Yung, Rosario Dawson, and Scott Glenn, all also returning from previous series, as well as Sigourney Weaver. Development began in late 2013, with Cox the first actor cast in May 2014. Petrie and Ramirez joined as showrunners in April, after doing so for the second season of Daredevil. Petrie left with the start of filming, which took place in New York City from October 2016 to March 2017. Cinematography and design work established the different color palettes from the characters' individual series, and combined them as the team is formed.
The Defenders premiered in New York on July 31, 2017, with all eight episodes released on Netflix on August 18. Critics were mostly positive about the crossover, highlighting the dynamics between the different Defenders as well as Weaver's performance, but were generally disappointed with the overall story, pacing, and the use of the Hand as villains. Third-party analysis indicated that the miniseries was the least-viewed Marvel Netflix series so far and had the largest week-over-week drop in viewership of them all, though it was the third-most "Binge Raced" series globally at the time of its release, according to Netflix. It received several award nominations. The Defenders, along with the other Marvel Netflix series, was removed from Netflix on March 1, 2022, after Disney regained the license for the series. They began streaming on Disney+ from March 16.