Why Marvel’s The Defenders Trailer Reveals More Than You Think

By now I hope everyone has seen The Defenders trailer at least 2,175 times — if you haven’t watched it that many times it’s ok, I’ll settle for a solid 2,000. Now if you couldn’t tell, I really love this trailer. Because I love this trailer so much, I took it upon myself to be the one who thinks way too much about it and I have grown to love it even more than before. Basically whoever was responsible for this trailer needs to seek me out so I can thank him or her personally. So let’s get right into it. This trailer is less than a minute long and with the lyrics of the song “Come As You Are” by Nirvana, it creates an extraordinary amount of substance inside such a small time frame.

*Warning there will be some minor spoilers for Jessica Jones and Daredevil*


“Come As You Are…”

So first up we have Daredevil serving as the lead-in for the trailer and coincidentally a lead-in to the Defenders themselves. His show was first and he was served with the task of bringing the gritty Marvel streets to life. After season 2 of Daredevil, Matt Murdock has completely gone into his Daredevil persona. Over the course of the show his normal lawyer life was constantly in the way of his true calling to aid in the battle that no one in the city really knew anything about.

Although he tried his hardest to balance both of his lives, he ultimately decided to fully embrace his more Devilish side. “Come As You Are” refers to him coming into the Defenders team as he is after season 2: completely focused on ending whatever threats plague his city with no distractions. In the trailer the words “Devil of Hell’s Kitchen” can be seen on a newspaper clipping, referring to how most of the general public perceives him. The newspaper peels back revealing a nice shiny “D” for Daredevil, representing how some of the populace and how we, the audience, see him: as a hero. Daredevil is coming to the Defenders as he is right now: ready, willing, prepared to fight.


“As You Were…”

Oh good ol’ Jessica Jones, the sleeper hit of Netflix. Jessica Jones goes through a lot during her freshman season. Through ups and downs she comes out of it with a different mindset the the one she started the show with…Or did she? *dramatic music* So during the show we get a couple of Easter eggs talking about Jessica’s life before the show and how she wanted to become a hero and use her powers for good. Obviously because of unforeseen crazy villainous circumstances, she never really got to be a hero. Instead she opened up a detective agency and mostly took voyeuristic pictures for people. She likes to drink and she has a dry sarcastic sense of humor which should provide some great interactions with the rest of the cast. She spends some of the show running from Kilgrave because of the fear she has of slipping back into his control.

If she can avoid him then at least she’ll be safe and she won’t be a danger to the people around her. Nevertheless, she instead decides enough is enough and we get a great season of her pushing through a plethora of her own insecurities and addictions to ironically end up as the hero she wanted to become years before. “As You Were” refers to Jessica Jones before the show: her desire to be a hero, her desire to help. Although the words would imply that she should completely revert back to her innocent mindset, the inclusion of shot glasses implies that the events of the show were necessary for her to be what the city and the world truly needs: to be what the Defenders truly need. She’s also a Nirvana fan, just a fun fact.


“As I Want You To Be…”

Luke Cage’s show premiers on September 30th so mark it on your calendars. The first thing we see is “Property of Seagate Prison” which is the prison where Luke Cage received his powers from an experiment. As the camera pans through the newspaper a couple of bullet holes can be seen as a reference to him being bulletproof but his clothes obviously aren’t. If you dig really deep, you can say that the material that the bullets pierce through can represent his loved ones showing that just because he himself is bulletproof doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways to hurt him (but that’s digging really deep like center of the Earth deep). The words “As I Want You To Be” refer to the desire of the people around Luke: their desire for him to be a hero. During Jessica Jones the seeds of heroism were planted but it’s heavily implied from his trailer that the flowers of heroism will fully bloom inside of him just in time to Defend.


“As A Friend…As a Friend”

Danny Rand aka Ironfist aka Punch-a-Train-Man is the last Defender to be summoned, so to speak. “As a friend” is a reference to the fact that Luke Cage and Ironfist were Heroes for Hire and are super best buddies (something that I hope the show takes into account at least a little bit please and thanks Marvel). The phrase “Who is Danny Rand” is the key thing in this section. It could just be a tagline or a reference to the fact that he hasn’t been in any significant Marvel outings before so the world doesn’t know his name but it’s actually more than that. That particular piece of paper is a memo that will probably be used in the show itself and will be on an important character’s desk…maybe. I’m just speculating you know.


“As An Old Enemy…”

Now the newspaper is being ripped apart more ferociously. Someone or something is desperately trying to tear it all apart but after it is all ripped away the word Defend is still standing (using letters from each character’s name). Stick’s voice is heard saying “You think the four of you can save New York? You can’t even save yourselves.” All the while a hand is trying to grasp the word Defend; the hand is encircling it like it’s daring them to try to stop it. The word Defend is a challenge, “I dare you to Defend.”

It is a command, “You must Defend.” It is a promise, “We will Defend”. “As An Old Enemy” is most likely a reference to the Hand which is an enemy from far beyond in the past so you can’t get much older than that. Also the fact that it’s literally a giant hand kinda implies it you know. All of this creates a monstrous amount of hype that will build up with Luke Cage and Ironfist’s shows and will ultimately culminate when The Defenders finally premieres.

Whew so that was fun, right? So much stuff in less than a minute and a trailer that tells a better story than a lot of movies these days. Hopefully this was as enjoyable to read as it was for me to type because as I said way up there in the beginning of the article, I really REALLY love this trailer. Happy defending!

 
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  • William Young

    Staff Writer

    Lover of Hamtaro and an eater of Oreos. Careful with what you say about me because I might throw it "Right Back Atcha." That's just a Kirby joke. I speak in references and I'm the awkward guy in the corner at a party. Hit me up if you wanna talk about magical girls in a totally appropriate way.

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