Mike Colter on ‘The Defenders’: Working together as a team is the challenge

“The Defenders”: (clockwise from top left) Mike Colter as Luke Cage, Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Finn Jones as Iron Fist and Charlie Cox as Daredevil

NEW YORK—Early this year, we didn’t just see the world inhabited by four superheroes—namely Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Iron Fist (Finn Jones) and Luke Cage (Mike Colter)—we also watched some of them in action, as they shared an intense moment with Stick (Scott Glenn), on the New York set of Netflix’s “The Defenders.”

In that thrilling world of make-believe, the stakes were high—and you could cut the thick tension in the ice-cold air with a knife—yup, the stars of Marvel’s “The Defenders” were up and about despite the snow storm raging outside the huge set!

Happily, all that excitement hasn’t been for naught—because, after seeing an early screener of the eight-episode miniseries at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, Los Angeles Times’ Tracy Brown said of the pilot, “If every episode of ‘The Defenders’ [wraps up] in a similar way, fans may end up binge-watching the show without being able to help themselves.”

And that’s great news—especially for Finn Jones and his superhero starrer, because while the shows of his three predecessors generated well-deserved acclaim from critics, “Iron Fist,” which is crucial in the formative stages of The Defenders, got mixed to bad reviews.

Strength in numbers

As it turns out, there’s power and strength in numbers—and the age-old adage seems to have worked in “The Defenders’” favor.

For Mike Colter, the fortuitous collaboration of the four superheroes provides an opportunity for his character, ex-con Luke Cage, to turn over a new leaf, after tying up loose ends in the second season of his own show.

He explained to us, “As a consequence of Luke voluntarily going to prison to atone for the dreadful sins of his past, he can now leave it behind him and start a new page in his life. He has no reason to get scared that somebody’s going to knock on his door and take him back to prison. He doesn’t have to keep secrets anymore, or be afraid to get close to people. With Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) in his life, he now has a love interest and a more positive outlook.”

In Netflix’s eagerly anticipated series, which will be streamed starting Aug. 18, Luke acts as the conciliator of the reluctant superheroes and, as a tribute to the “Heroes for Hire” partnership in the comic books, he takes on the role of a mentor for the impulsive Danny Rand aka Iron Fist.

Finn Jones

Our chat with Mike:

Talk about Luke’s relationship with Danny. It’s more complex than the one depicted in the comic books. The journey that establishes how they eventually become friends and allies will be explored—and that’s crucial, because they come from very different backgrounds.
Part of that story involves my relationship with Jessica Jones (with whom Luke once had an “intimate” run-in), and I’m looking forward to seeing how people respond to these relationships.

Luke seems to have the quality of a true leader. We tend to gravitate towards people who don’t speak so much. But when they do, they really have something important to say. With a person like Luke, he could be a leader, but he does that by example.

Challenge

You’ll never be a good leader if you can’t be a good follower first. You have to support your leaders because, one day, the roles just might get reversed—and you’ll have a difficult time getting people to follow you.

Luke knows his place—he knows when he needs to stay quiet and when to step forward.

Each member of “The Defenders” is used to doing things on his or her own, so working together as one is a challenge—because they all think they know everything. So, when they get together, that’s when conflicts arise.

But, conflict is important, because there’s no drama without it. Take Daredevil’s run-in with The Punisher, where they argue about their opposing views on dispensing justice … their contradictory methods.

It’s the same thing with The Defenders, especially if you put them together in one room. With a detective agency to look after, Jessica is a lone wolf who does her own thing. Luke is trying to protect Harlem, while Matt Murdock (Daredevil) keeps Hell’s Kitchen safe—and Iron Fist has his own interests. Everybody has something he/she represents.

But, in a group, all that “selfishness” is something you need to sacrifice. They have to protect interests other than their own to defeat a formidable foe.

Mike Colter

How was it working with Krysten, Charlie and Finn? I didn’t have to work every day, so that was cool (laughs). What I started to miss was knowing exactly what was going on all the time.

There were so many intersecting storylines that were being strung together—and everything was happening at the same time. So I had to pay more attention to my relationship with the others.

The biggest challenge was for us to find a common thread and connect the dots, because we wanted a series that would be accessible to the followers of the individual shows—and one that would mesh all these worlds together.

Given their “shared” history, how does Luke react when he sees Jessica again?

That’s a good question—and I’m going to leave that for you to find out (laughs). It’s been a while since they last saw each other. In the comic book, they’re in a relationship. Won’t that be a problem for Luke and Claire? Who knows?

Look, Luke had a thing with police detective Misty Knight (Simone Missick) in the show, but that isn’t in the comic books. So it isn’t hard to think of Jessica and Luke ending up together—but I don’t know how that’s going to play itself out.

Rosario Dawson (left) and Mike Colter

Weird ‘wrinkle’

Moreover, it wasn’t like Jessica was saying she wanted to be in a relationship with him. And even if she did, let’s keep in mind that she did kill Luke’s wife, Reva Connors, so that’s a weird “wrinkle” that needs to be ironed out.

What convinces The Defenders to come together—and who are they up against? Let’s see if I can answer that without giving everything away: We’re up against a familiar yet unknown foe (laughs). But it’s someone who can give all of us a challenge. Sigourney Weaver (as Alexandra, the head of an ancient organization), is one of our enemies.

Will viewers see growth from each character? Yes, they’ll see that a superhero is just a person with powers. In Luke’s case, he’s trying to figure out how to lead a normal life. He’s moving forward and is enjoying his relationship with Claire, who makes him feel good about himself.

Superhero stories provide escapism for viewers but, at the same time, they reflect the chaotic times our world is in. Is that being reflected in the series? I don’t want to sound too political, but it’s funny because when I started doing this series, I couldn’t articulate what the show’s “common cause” was that would interest people who weren’t into comic books.

Sigourney Weaver—photos courtesy of NETFLIX

But in the last few months, [we’ve seen the rise of a] common foe who wants absolute power and has no conscience. That’s why we can all relate to a series like “Narcos,” which shows what happens when ego takes over and greed starts to fester. In the show as it is in real life, we’re now facing an enemy who just wants it all!

Do The Defenders want validation as a group, like the Avengers or the X-Men? That’s what makes The Defenders unique—they’re not trying to consciously step out of the shadows. We function best when people don’t know who we are. We’re not an intergalactic fleet looking for enemies to defeat. We don’t have the answer for everything.

Given the quartet’s different skills and powers, will viewers see a lot of action? Definitely. We’ll all be seen stepping in to assist one another. Viewers will see what we’re good at, so the scenes become a bit of a showy display, and the action is heightened.

Even better, a lot of levity evens out the serious stuff. You’ll see us poking fun at Iron Fist for wearing spandex, or asking Jessica if her costume ever gets sent to the dry cleaners (laughs). All that action is balanced with humor.

I really enjoyed the scenes where we’re seen interacting with one another—because that’s how viewers get to know each of us better!