The Defenders and Captain Atom

 

A leaked final trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day have reportedly confirmed what I was hoping for.  The Savage Hulk will finally be returning to the MCU.  Smart Hulk was fun for one movie, but he never reverted back and has kind of worn out his welcome.  I'm ready for some smashing again.  Hopefully a Thing/Hulk fight will not be too far off.

The Defenders and The Spectre

 

These guys are all heroes, but they've all done some shady stuff as well.  Not many heroes would give them pause, but being stared down by the Spectre has got to be an exception!

Doom Patrol and The Defenders in: "It's All in the Timing!"

 

I definitely think that these two teams go well together.  The Doom Patrol and The Defenders previously met in STF #3588.  The Patrol has also separately run into the Hulk in STF #2976 and Namor in STF #4344.  

The Atom and The Defenders

 

Can the world's greatest non-team subdue a dwarf star-infused hero out of control?  And just what happened to Ray Palmer anyway?  The answers are only sixty cents away!

7 Soldiers of Victory and The Defenders

 

Uh oh! Mr. Universe is back for his 4th appearance and he looks more powerful than ever!  Let's hope the combined might of these two super-teams is enough to put him down for good!

Green Lantern & The Flash and The Defenders

 

Another pair of JLA members with a classic Marvel team again today, like on yesterday's cover. This time I feature the GL/Flash team, which made more sense to me as a kid than GL/Green Arrow.  You could always count on an action packed tale when Barry and Hal got together.

The Defenders Vs. Abnegezar, Rath & Ghast and Neron

 

The Defenders seemed to spend as much time or more battling demons and supernatural threats as they did traditional super-villains.  It might be interesting to see how they would fare against the denizens of DC's underworld.

Adam Strange and The Defenders

 

It was only a matter of time before Adam Strange joined The Defenders for an adventure.  After all, he is the brother of Stephen, The Master of Mystic Arts - in fact, this marks the seventh appearance of The Strange Brothers on the blog.

The Defenders and Johnny Thunder

 

Marvel has all the ingredients for a Defenders film, but they don't seem interested in making one. I thinks getting Hulk, Dr. Strange and Valkyrie together with a Namor variant (one closer to the comics please) in an adventure that introduces The Silver Surfer (thus avoiding having him first appear in an FF film for a second time) would make for a great tale. We'll see if they ever get around to getting the non-team together, but as for now I am not holding my breath.

Aquaman and The Defenders

 

Aquaman last battled Attuma in STF #2828

Aquaman and Namor have also a bit of history on this blog.  They last met trying battling Mer-Mutates in STF #2270, tried to avert war in Issue #1105, faced the sea's wrath back in Issue #751 and starred in my very first STF two-parter in Issue #3 and Issue #4.

Doom Patrol and The Defenders

 

Back in another life, I used to do a lot of acting. About the only person I knew that made it big had been Connie Britton, who I went to acting school with back in the early 90's. One of the last shows I did was an off-Broadway production of a play called Open House.  We ran for over a month, and I had a good time acting with and hanging out afterwards with my character's romantic interest, played by my friend Stephanie.  The show ended and I only saw Steph once more when she came to see me in a night of one acts a little later.  I stopped performing and she moved out of the city so we lost track.  Fast forward about 16 years later and I'm watching Doom Patrol.  There was something familiar about Hammerhead, the manifestation of one of Crazy Jane's personalities - and the credits confirmed it.  She shaves her head for the role, but that is indeed my old pal Stephanie.  We later caught up on Facebook, it's nice to see her with a cool comic book related recurring role.  Looks like she got a part on the new MacGuyver series as well.

The Defenders and The Crusaders

 

I remember the Impact Comics imprint that DC had for a short time.  I thought that the heroes included fit right into the DCU and had hoped they would be folded in to the continuity the way the Charlton characters were.  Alas, it was not to be, and they went on to be reintroduced and rebooted a few more times for other companies.  

Defenders and the Legion of Super-Heroes

 

I'm surprised that I haven't paired up these two teams until now, I had to go back and check just to be sure.  There's enough variety in the memberships of DC's premiere Super Team and Marvel's official Non-Team that any number of line ups could make for an exciting tale with lots of contrasting personalities and power sets.  I'm still hoping to eventually see big budget live action treatments for either team.

The Defenders and Superman in: "Crime in a Bottle!"

 

I was hoping that the DC Fandome event would shed some more light on the future of Superman in the movies.  There was some speculation that an announcement of The Man of Steel's involvement in Black Adam or even a solo sequel would be made, but alas no mention of such things.  DC Fandome continues this coming weekend, though It looks to be focusing more on the TV, print and gaming aspects of DC Comics.  Henry Cavill keeps teasing that he id not done with the role, but I'd like to know some more specifics as to what that will mean.

Superman met an earlier version of The Defenders in STF #2849...

Superman and The Defenders

Rumors are swirling about Namor's introduction into the MCU.  The latest speculation has him being introduced as a child in The Eternals, and then as an adult in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. It will be interesting to see how the underwater kingdoms of Lemuria and Atlantis are depicted after James Wan's Aquaman.  Once Namor is established, bring on The Silver Surfer and lets get a big screen Defenders underway!

The Defenders Vs. The Fatal Five

This story serves as a prequel to STF #2710.  If you were wondering just how The Fatal Five got stuck in the present, well here you go! I definitely think that this would be a great match-up. With The Five having the edge in numbers and The Defenders the edge in raw power.  It would be close!

The Defenders Vs. The JLA (100 Page Giant!)

I thought for this Anniversary Issue that I would present one big story.  I always liked the old JLA/JSA crossovers where the two teams would meet, then break off into smaller teams for separate adventures, and finally all gather together again for the big conclusion.  I can see a comic featuring these two powerhouse groups going down the same way.

The JLA first met The Defenders in STF #1600...

Firestorm and The Defenders

Now that Marvel has access to virtually their entire library of characters for movie treatment, there's no reason we cant get a proper Defenders team up on the big screen. They already have Hulk, Dr. Strange and Valkyrie established to anchor the non-team.  Heck, they could even use the group as a lead up to their next big crossover film - live action Avengers/Defenders War, anyone?

The Defenders and Red Tornado

I liked the designation of Non-Team for The Defenders in the early years of the title.  It really fit - this was not a group of heroes that had regular meetings, assignments or monitor duty.  They didn't even have a formal headquarters, they just hung out at Dr. Strange's place.  Thrown together more by circumstance than choice, they were as likely to be battling each other as an outside force.  These non-traditional aspects made the group unpredictable, and fun to read about.

Batman and The Defenders (The Movie!)

This cover comes about as the result of a conversation in the comments section.  I liked the idea of a live-action Defenders team, but I still wanted to honor the cross-company aspect f this blog.  With that in mind, I added in Batman - because Batman goes with everybody!  Justice League may have missed the mark, but I'm thinking this could be a true blockbuster!

Batman and The Defenders met in a more traditional comic way back in my B&B: The Lost Issues days...