It’s Comic-Con time in San Diego, which means comic book publishers, TV networks and movie studios have plenty of product to promote. We probably won’t get the blockbuster announcements until the weekend, but Marvel unveiled some long-awaited trailer for its upcoming Netflix shows on Thursday.
First out of the box was a teaser for Luke Cage, featuring the character that was introduced in Netflix’s Jessica Jones series last year. Played by Mike Colter, Cage has indestructible skin and superhuman strength. Apparently, he isn’t going to live the quiet, trouble-free live he envisioned for himself in Harlem. Not when he can do something to help against the criminal elements threatening his neighborhood.
Check out the trailer, in which Cage finds a creative use for a SUV door:
https://youtu.be/Ymw5uvViqPU
Luke Cage debuts Sept. 30 on Netflix.
The character will also be a part of an Avengers-style team-up series titled The Defenders, in which each of the street-level superheroes featured in their four Netflix shows will band together. This, however, is a teaser in every sense of the word, playing only graphics and animation set to Nirvana’s “Come As You Are,” with no actual footage from the show.
Filming on the series wasn’t set to begin until the end of the year, geared toward a 2017 premiere, but maybe some scenes have already been produced. That sounds like Scott Glenn’s Stick, Daredevil’s mentor, mocking the four heroes’ ambition to save New York.
https://youtu.be/wBZtM8q2Z1g
Perhaps the most pleasant surprise from Marvel was a first look teaser at its upcoming Iron Fist series. This trailer is also very much a teaser, with little revealed about the character or series itself, though we do get a glimpse of Finn Jones (Game of Thrones) as Daniel Rand, who takes on the Iron Fist mantle.
The journey begins. #IronFist #MarvelSDCC pic.twitter.com/VKws7aBSmd
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) July 22, 2016
Judging from the footage included, Iron Fist may be more of an origin story than Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, unless many of these scenes take place in flashback sequences. But with the mysticism involved with the character, more origin background might be necessary to tell his story and establish his eventual involvement with the other Marvel heroes in Harlem and Hell’s Kitchen.
No word on when Iron Fist will debut, but spring 2017 is a fair guess if that series is intended to help set up The Defenders.
Marvel and Netflix also announced that Daredevil has been renewed for a third season. Given where season two left off, another season seemed imminent unless many of those dangling story threads were meant to be picked up in the other Marvel series, notably The Defenders.
Next stop: Hell’s Kitchen. #Daredevil Season 3 is coming soon. #MarvelSDCChttps://t.co/hdSmN4mfMv
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) July 22, 2016
According to Marvel, season three of Daredevil will debut in 2017. Will that mean we get three Marvel shows on Netflix next year?
That is certainly ambitious, but perhaps a natural progression from showing one series in the spring and the other in late fall. Maybe we’ll be getting some Marvel Netflix action next summer. And the upcoming Punisher spinoff has to fit in there somewhere, though that series likely won’t debut until 2018. Perhaps Frank Castle will make an appearance in one of the other three shows before then.
