From DAREDEVIL To THE DEFENDERS - Marvel's 6 Netflix Shows Ranked From Worst To Best

With The Defenders now on Netflix and Punisher on the way, we look at the six Marvel shows on the online streaming service and rank them from best to worst. Hit the jump to find out which show is #1!

By JoshWilding - Aug 29, 2017 08:08 AM EST

Filed Under: Defenders

There have now been a total of six Marvel TV shows on Netflix. Punisher debuts later this year and new seasons of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist are all in various stages of development.

With The Defenders now on the online streaming service, we've decided to take a look at each of these shows and rank them from best to worst. It's no easy feat, especially as they all have good and bad qualities but it's fair to say that there are definitely some which are a whole lot better than the others.

So, without further ado, here is where you'll find our definitive ranking of Marvel's Netflix shows from Daredevil's first season all the way back in 2015 to The Defenders just a couple of short weeks ago...

6. Iron Fist

I don't think Iron Fist deserved the vitriol spewed at it by some critics earlier this year but there's no denying that it was a disappointment. The show threw The Hand into the mix in a heavy handed and disappointing manner and the action failed to live up to what the character deserves; action scenes were few and far between and when they did come, Danny Rand came across as something of an amateur with very little control over his powers (which were used sparingly, to say the least).

Iron Fist did a lot right, though, with the Meachums and Colleen Wing the clear highlights. Finn Jones proved himself to be a likeable Danny too and it's easy to see him really finding his feet in season two, especially with a new showrunner and Marvel no doubt taking the legitimate criticisms aimed at the series on board. Unfortunately, despite the things Iron Fist did manage to get right, it was just too much of a let down to rank any higher than this.

The first eight or nine episodes of Daredevil's second season were stellar thanks to amazing action scenes and the downright incredible performance of Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher. While he was imprisoned sooner than any of us expected, that led us to his jaw dropping attack on an entire wing full of prisoners and the confrontation between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk which set the stage for "Born Again" in season three. Sadly, it was all downhill from there.

While Elodie Yung's Elektra was great to start with, the character outstayed her welcome thanks to all that Black Sky nonsense and had an underwhelming death which paled in comparison to that of her comic book counterpart. Frank's journey also became unnecessarily convoluted as he faked his demise and we learned that the murder of his family was all down to a mind boggling conspiracy. Throw in the fact that he conveniently found all his Punisher gear hidden in a wooden shed and the show just lost its way in the final few episodes and that hurts its standing here.

I enjoyed The Defenders but...well, I've already forgotten it. What should have been an epic team up between these heroes proved to be a fun adventure but one which really didn't take full advantage of the premise. The Hand was underwhelming from the second they were introduced and this show did nothing to fix that; their plan was lame and their defeat hopefully means we never hear from them again. Despite that, there was a lot the show did right.

The stage was set for an eventual team-up between Luke Cage and Iron Fist, while the latter was redeemed after his solo series both in terms of action scenes and his personality. The rest of the heroes were also left in a pretty interesting place as their respective stories move forward and there's no getting around the fact that seeing this lot together was a treat. Yes, the Elektra stuff was a bunch of nonsense but the final battle was very cool and at eight episodes, the story flowed much better than most of these Marvel shows on Netflix. It should have been better but was far from awful.

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3. Luke Cage

Luke Cage felt totally different to the Marvel shows which came before it and made this hero one of the most likeable in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. The soundtrack was brilliant and the action was a sight to behold, even if it did feel like Luke should be a little more powerful on occasion. Despite that, this was a great way to continue Luke's story after Jessica Jones and Cottonmouth proved to be one of the best villains ever introduced by Marvel on the small screen. His shocking death (which is a plot point used far too much by these shows) hurt the series, though, and Diamondback was a complete joke.

Things also slowed down a little too much when Luke was left comatose but he did at least get a solid origin story which paid homage to his comic book routes in a fun way; he even wore the tiara! Overall, Luke Cage did a great job with the fan-favourite hero and the story of a bulletproof black man was particularly timely and really connected with audiences as a result. The more we see of Luke moving forward, the better.

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2. Daredevil Season 1

The first season of Daredevil was superb from start to finish. Well, mostly. That final episode brought in the classic costume but the action took a turn for the worse as director/showrunner Steven S. DeKnight attempted to go down a very comic book-y direction and lost what made the series so great as a result. The Man Without Fear leaping off a rooftop in specific poses looked silly and that final battle with Wilson Fisk just wasn't as good as it should have been.

The episode was still strong, though, and those first twelve instalments were stellar. The Kingpin was an amazing villain and Daredevil's actions - while wearing the classic black suit dreamed up by Frank Miller - were awesome to follow. There may have been no sign of characters like Bullseye and Elektra but season one felt like classic Daredevil and got these Marvel shows off to a wonderfully strong start on Netflix. However, what came next would somehow top that...

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1. Jessica Jones

I didn't expect much from Jessica Jones going into the show's first season. I've never been a fan of Brian Michael Bendis and didn't rate the character too highly as a result but the work of Krysten Ritter here was superb as were the show's scripts and supporting cast. Yes, the "Nuke" stuff was a little odd and probably not needed but David Tennant's Kilgrave was terrific and he made a massive impact here as the deranged and downright terrifying villain obsessed with winning back the private eye.

The show may not have been the most action-packed Marvel series on Netflix but it did have the strongest story and it's no wonder that Jessica stood out from the crowd in The Defenders; she's just such a great character. The series also did a great job of introducing Luke Cage and didn't lose its way in the final few episodes the same way as some of these other shows. In fact, it had the strongest conclusion of them all!

Do you guys agree with this ranking? Which order would you put Marvel's Netflix shows in? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.

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134 Comments

1 2 3 4

Anonymous47 - 8/29/2017, 6:47 AM

I think this is the only ranking about the Netflix Marvel show that I agree with, Jessica Jones is such an amazing show with a wonderful villian also, the show made us love and hate Kilgrave such that we both rooted for him and wanted him dead, to me Jessica Jones is the real boss here.

noahthegrand - 8/29/2017, 8:07 AM

Same.

knocturnalzen10 - 8/29/2017, 8:09 AM

dd1
jj
dd2
defenders
luke

iron fist

GhostDog - 8/29/2017, 8:10 AM

DD season 1
Jessica Jones
DD season 2
Defenders
Luke Cage
Iron Fist

katzb724 - 8/29/2017, 8:10 AM

6. Iron Fist - liked a lot of it, but too much about the company and the Meechums. Plus, Danny sucks in this.

5. Jessica Jones - I just don't get the love for this show. It was boring and slow. Ritter was good though.

4. Defenders - so explain to me again how the city will be destroyed if they remove dragon bones from an underground cave?

3. Luke Cage - Everthing was great until Cottonmouth died, then WTF? And snake eyes was rushed and looked ridiculous.

2. Daredevil season 2 - Fantastic up until the last two episodes where they forsook a good show to set up the defenders.

1. Daredevil Season 1 - Literally nothing bad to say.

superbigguy32 - 8/29/2017, 8:16 AM

@katzb724 -

GhostDog - 8/29/2017, 8:18 AM

@katzb724 -

4. I think they said only a chunk of the city would collapse if they mined all the bones. That skeleton was holding up a significant piece of the city's foundation.

I assume we'd get more earthquakes and shit with all the mining. I agree, it was confusing.

1 2 3 4

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