In a change to the usual format, Kevin Smith's Fat Man On Bat Man podcast this week welcomed Marvel Entertainment's Chief Creative Officer (and former Editor In Chief, and still a writer and artist) Joe Quesada for a chat about Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Along the way, the subject of Netflix's developing multi-strand Defenders series was raised, with Quesada happy to clarify some points about where Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and Iron Fist will fit in the current on-screen Marvel scheme of things.
As spotted and transcribed by comicbook.com, Quesada confirmed that, "They will exist within the cinematic universe again, so this is all the same world as SHIELD and The Avengers. There will be some interconnectivity, much like the movies."
But Quesada was also keen to differentiate the series. "Although these are superhero stories, this is different," he explained. "This is the street level, noir side of the Marvel universe, probably more ground level than you've really seen in any of our Marvel movies."
Grittier and darker as it may be, however, it's still not quite heading into Christopher Nolan territory: "This is still Marvel doing street-level superheroes. This is not like us doing Dark Knight or any of that stuff..."
The announcement arrived last autumn that Netflix and Marvel are teaming up to deliver four 13-part miniseries (one for each of the aforementioned heroes), set in the Daredevil-run streets of New York's Hell's Kitchen. Those 52 episodes will then culminate in the four's assembly as a version of superhero team The Defenders, in another showcase mini-series.
"The scripts are coming in," says Quesada, "and they're pretty fantastic: very emotional, very original. But at the same time, it is Daredevil; it is Matt Murdock. These stories take place in Hell's Kitchen, and the fantastic thing is that we're shooting at home in New York where these characters belong. We will hopefully start casting really, really soon."
Quesada is "very, very excited". Are you? Give us your thoughts in the comments below, and while we're waiting for those casting announcements, check out Empire's initial thoughts on the series.