Marvel's THE DEFENDERS and THE AVENGERS Will Differ Greatly, Says Jeph Loeb

We're right in the middle of San-Diego Comic-Con, and juicy news is pouring out at a rampant pace. Along with new looks at Luke Cage and Iron Fist, we learned that Daredevil will be returning for a third season. We all know that The Defenders has been a planned series for Netflix, but while talking to Cinemablend, Marvel Studios' Head of Television Jeph Loeb shed some light on the much-anticipated series, and how exactly it will differ from the epic and grand-scale Avengers films.

"The question that we want people to ask is, 'What happens when these people meet each other?' Because they each look at the world in a very different way. So when that happens, that's ultimately what Defenders is all about. It's not about 'Who is the bad guy?' or 'What's at stake?' or any of those things. We're still working in a very real, grounded world. The sky is not going to open up, and aliens aren't going to come flying out of it. That's The Avengers job! That's what they're supposed to do."

He also goes on to praise Joss Whedon's films but explains how they're scaling it down for Netflix's thirteen episode team-up.

"The street level heroes always come from a very real place. If The Avengers are here to protect the universe -- and nobody loves those movies more than I do -- that's an epic, action-adventure story that has great humor and great pathos. What we're trying to do is tell stories about men and women who are here to save, in some cases, the neighborhood, and in some cases themselves. And if that's the case, and you're involved, and you'll stick around for 13 hours, that's an enormous commitment that we want!"

I find it pretty hard to believe that some neighborhood drama will warrant the gathering of this team, and I have to expect some sort of greater threat. It'll be pretty tough for a lot of people to invest in this if they're just beating on some normal thugs. I don't think the sky should open up or anything like that, but there was an undercurrent of mysticism in Daredevil season two that left us with the hint that some magical elements will be coming into play. Doctor Strange is also entering the MCU this year, which will certainly introduce us to some mind-bending magical and metaphysical elements that could tie in quite neatly to the shadowy group The Hand from Daredevil. Only time will tell, however, and there hasn't been much reason to lack faith. It's definitely exciting to hear some information on The Defenders, and it's good to hear that it's not going to be the same sort of team-up that we've already seen.