You thought there were a lot of Marvel movies in the planning stages, but just take a look at the upcoming slate of Marvel television series over the next few years:
The Defenders premieres August 18 on Netflix. All four of Marvel's 'street-level' heroes -- Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones) -- unite to fight a common enemy, the Chinese street gang called The Hand. Sigourney Weaver plays Alexandra, described as the "head of an ancient organization," presumably The Hand.
Eka Darville, Simone Missick, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Scott Glenn, Rachael Taylor, Rosario Dawson and Jessica Henwick all reprise their roles from various earlier Marvel-Netflix shows in The Defenders -- and Stan Lee makes a cameo through an on-set photo as NYPD Captain Irving Forbush, as seen in the other Marvel-Netflix shows.
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All eight episodes of The Defenders will drop on August 18 on Netflix.
Inhumans premieres September 1 in IMAX theaters before airing Friday nights on ABC starting September 22.
The eight-episode series stars Anson Mount as Black Bolt, head of the Inhuman Royal family and King of Attilan whose voice can shatter mountains with only a whisper. Serinda Swan is Medusa, Queen of Attilan, whose bright red hair can be used to move items and has its own prehensile strength. Iwan Rheon plays Maximus, an Inhuman with a strong devotion to his people, and who desires to be king over his brother Black Bolt; the chaotic evil to Black Bolt's noble good.
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In the series, the Inhuman Royal family is forced to flee Attilan after a military coup. Arriving in Hawaii, they must find a way to regroup to save themselves and the world.
The Gifted will air on Mondays starting this fall on Fox. Based on the X-Men film franchise, The Gifted follows parents Reed and Caitlin Strucker who take their children on the run after discovering they have mutant powers. The Struckers join an underground community of mutants who have to fight simply in order to survive.
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The world The Gifted is set in is one where the X-Men are already known, and where mutants are both hated and hunted. Mutant-hunting Sentinel robots are expected to be portrayed in the series, but are expected to have an entirely different look than what was seen in the motion picture X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Back on Netflix, The Punisher takes the character of Frank Castle, reintroduced in the second season of Daredevil and gives him his own 13-episode series.
Jon Bernthal made the role his own, allowing Castle to become a violent vigilante rendering his own brand of justice for those failed by the justice system.
In the series, Castle finds himself haunted and hunted after the murder of his family, and fights crime by any means necessary, and sometimes that means doing so outside of the legal system.
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Bernthal's portrayal is far more gritty than earlier big-screen portrayals, though in interviews with IGN and GQ in 2016, Bernthal said he did find some inspiration from the 2012 Punisher fan film 'Dirty Laundry' which starred actor Thomas Jane (who starred in the 2004 film version of 'The Punisher' and the 2005 video game version of the film).
"He ain’t got a f------ cape. He ain’t got any superpowers. He’s a f------ tortured, angry father and husband who’s living in this unbelievable world of darkness and loss and torment. Frank Castle resonates with me," Bernthal said.
Though an exact air date has yet to be set, The Punisher is expected to air in the fall of 2017 on Netflix.
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Netflix has also announced a third season of Daredevil, a second season of Jessica Jones and a second season of Luke Cage -- all three of which are expected to be released in 2018. The final episode of Iron Fist teased two new major storylines in that saga, though a formal announcement of a second season for that series has not been made by Marvel or Netflix.
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ABC's cable sibling channel Freeform has announced a 2018 premiere for Marvel's teen drama Cloak & Dagger, featuring Aubrey Joseph and Olivia Holt as two teenagers who acquire super powers and forge a romantic relationship in the process.
Set in New Orleans, Tyrone Johnson (Joseph) finds he can engulf others in darkness while Tandy Bowen (Holt) is able to throw light 'daggers.' They eventually figure out that their powers work better when they are together.
Cloak & Dagger will run for 10 episodes.
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Also on Freeform, The New Warriors will be a 10-episode, live-action half-hour comedy series based on Marvel's comic book of the same name and will also premiere in 2018.
The team will include Mister Immortal, Night Thrasher, Speedball, Microbe and Debrii, and be led by Squirrel Girl.
Marvel's Runaways has been scheduled to premiere early in 2018 on Hulu, and is a 10-episode series based on Marvel's superhero team of the same name.
In the original comic series, six teens from different backgrounds are forced to unite against a common enemy: their criminal parents. The TV series is expected to follow the same direction.
The series stars Rhenzy Feliz, Lyrica Okano, Virginia Gardner, Ariela Barer, Gregg Sulkin and Allegra Acosta as the teenage runaways in the series.
In addition, a second season of the breakout hit Legion returns to FX for a second season in Spring 2018. The fifth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns to ABC in late 2017 or early 2018.
Marvel has announced a new animated Deadpool series to begin airing on FX in Spring 2018, along with new seasons of animated series Avengers Assemble, Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy and Big Hero 6 to air on Disney XD.
