Parents' Guide to

Marvel's The Defenders

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Dark, modern superhero tale has heroics, adult themes.

TV Netflix Drama 2017
Marvel's The Defenders Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

age 15+

Based on 11 parent reviews

age 15+

Pretty Good!

I love this show! There is only one sex scene in the whole show which is in the first episode. The Violence is pretty gory, but it’s not over the top like any of the other Netflix superhero shows. I recommend this show!

This title has:

Too much violence
age 17+

Cool Marvel show have violence

This show was cool, and had more comedy than Daredevil. It was cool to see a team of superheroes get together and try to work together, in a way different than the Avengers. The show contains a lot of violence and many fights use swords and they get bloody. It has about as much violence and blood as Daredevil. There is also some language usually s-word, and would be a PG-13 rating. The main problem is the violence. Only one sex scene in episode one that I skipped, like 1 minute, no other scenes in the rest of the show. Great for older teens.

This title has:

Great messages
Too much violence
Too much swearing

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (11 ):
Kids say (13 ):

Dark and gripping, this superhero series will appeal to fans who love big bad villains with big bad plans, and the complex heroes who oppose them despite their many limitations. Like the four series that star each individual hero, this isn't a simple superhero tale that can be wrapped up in an hour. Instead, bad guys and good guys (who are, to this series' credit, not always male) alike are complicated: Jessica drinks to escape her memories, Luke is alternately protective of and frustrated with the fallible characters who inhabit his neighborhood. Even the woman who emerges as the force attempting to bring about NYC's destruction, poised and cold Alexandra (gifted greatly with Sigourney Weaver's usual gravitas), has her secrets -- it's not even clear what she's up to, or why.

All of that remains to be slowly teased out by our quartet of superheroes, who begin the series still immersed in the storylines you'll recognize if you watched each series. Just how each characters' quirks and past will be integrated into one cohesive drama remains to be seen, but given the success of their big-screen counterparts The Avengers, uniting their worlds seems natural. How might their justice league differ from The Avengers? The Defenders is superheroics for adults: complicated, sexy, sometimes morally ambivalent, and if you liked any or all of the individual shows these characters inhabited, you'll like this, too.

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate