After more than two years of build, Netflix brought its four street-level Marvel heroes together last month as the streaming service assembled Charlie Cox’s Daredevil, Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones, Mike Colter’s Luke Cage and Finn Jones’ Iron Fist for The Defenders.
While Marvel and Netflix were surely hoping this would be their small screen version of The Avengers, the miniseries met with a mixed reception from fans and critics, and now comes word that it has failed to live up to the success of its predecessors in terms of viewership.
Unlike TV networks, Netflix doesn’t reveal exact viewing figures for its shows, but according to marketing analytics agency Jumpshot, The Defenders enjoyed just 17% of the viewership of Daredevil season 2 – Netflix’s best-performing Marvel season – in its first 30 days. For comparison, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones managed 28%, 27% and 26% respectively. The stats also show that The Defenders had the largest week-over-week drop in viewership of the Marvel shows, declining 67%, 48% and 41% respectively.
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“Marvel’s The Defenders” follows Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. A quartet of singular heroes with one common goal – to save New York City. This is the story of four solitary figures, burdened with their own personal challenges, who realize they just might be stronger when teamed together.
The Defenders stars Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones), Mike Colter (Luke Cage), Finn Jones (Iron Fist), Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page), Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson), Simone Missick (Misty Knight), Scott Glenn (Stick), Rosario Dawson (Claire Temple), Rachael Taylor (Trish Walker), Jessica Henwick (Colleen Wing) and Elodie Yung (Elektra) appearing alongside Sigourney Weaver as the villain, Alexandra.
