The Defenders Showrunner Explains Intense Finale

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Marvel's The Defenders. 

The newest collaboration from Marvel and Netflix is, of course, The Defenders, a super-sized superhero series that brings together Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter), and Danny Rand/Iron Fist (Finn Jones) on a mission to save New York City from some gnarly forces of evil. While spirits aren't exactly high across the board, with many of the supposed-to-be-a-team group insisting they don't want to "make super-friends," the Defenders quickly realize the stakes are too high for them to be reluctant. 

Consisting of just eight episodes, Marvel's The Defenders twists and turns through the maze of terror and destruction that is the War for New York. The chaos ultimately leads to an epic, blowout finale. The Defenders showrunner Marco Ramirez spoke with Entertainment Weekly to explain just what happened at the end of the series, and what it means for the future of each character. 

When the quartet dodge the Hand's plan to harvest the substance hidden in the dragon bones nestled beneath the Big Apple, Elektra (Elodie Young) refuses to stand down. Daredevil steps up, sacrificing himself to fight against her, ending up crushed underneath a pile of debris in Midland Circle. Elsewhere, Jessica and Luke are heading home, unscathed from the battle. Danny is shown wearing a version of the famous green and yellow Iron Fist tracksuit. And, as it turns out, Daredevil survives the chaos and is seen in the care of a group of nuns, one of whom calls out for a sister named "Maggie."

Ramirez explained that there was an emotional aspect behind Daredevil's decision to stay behind and battle Elektra, even though he knew it would likely end in him dying. "To me, Matt and Elektra always felt like Edward Norton's character and Tyler Durden in Fight Club except with a more overt sexual dynamic," he said with a laugh. "And so, in the end, it felt more like the end of Fight Club... emotionally, Matt knows and has to embrace the fact that she's his burden to deal with, and though he's fought for three episodes alongside Luke, Jessica, and Danny, Elektra is his problem, his cross to bear. That's very Matt Murdock to say, 'Don't worry about it, I'll do this. I'm going to die for this.'"

Though Ramirez couldn't reveal how Daredevil emerged from the rubble, he did offer up a few bits of information on the Maggie who's mentioned in the finale. "I can say that visually that shot at the end of Daredevil's story was definitely an homage, as were a couple of other scenes, to the comics," said Ramirez. "That's one of my favorite Daredevil images, so regardless of who any of the characters are, I went to the production meeting saying, 'This is the image we're going for, we're going to feel like this,' and that came from that image that I purposely borrowed from the comics."

Overall, Ramirez said that he's not sure what's in store for the four heroes of The Defenders, but he seems excited for all possibilities. "I don't know what the future holds. That's a Jeph Loeb question but for me and for the writers' room," he said. 

Now that we're all filled in on what happened at the end of The Defenders, check out the untold truth of the superhero group.