Marvel's Defenders to Start Production Soon

It's going to be a busy year for Marvel superheroes on Netflix. Daredevil star Charlie Cox announced this week that The Defenders will begin production near the end of the year, but two of the series' four main characters still need to get their own stand-alone series before they're ready for the team-up series to begin.

Cox told reporters at a press event in Paris this week that shooting on the Defenders series will begin at the end of the year. Although Cox said nothing about a release date for the series, a year-end production start likely means that the series will be ready no earlier than mid-2017. That allows plenty of time for the debut of the two series that need to come before the Defenders.

Daredevil's second season is currently available for streaming on Netflix, and the second season of Jessica Jones is on tap. The third Defenders-linked series, Luke Cage, is scheduled to debut in September; the Luke Cage character has already made his debut in the first season of Jessica Jones. The final piece of the Defenders puzzle, Iron Fist, is still in the casting stage and has not yet begun production, leading to the expectation that the series won't debut until sometime in 2017.