Marvel and Netflix's The Defenders series released its first teaser trailer this evening, and while it mostly consists of character-representational graphics played to the sound of "Come As You Are" by Nirvana, there is one special line of dialogue featured towards the end. A disembodied voice is clearly talking to the members of the titular team -- Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist -- and mockingly says to them, "You think the four of you can save New York? You can't even save yourselves." While we never actually see the mouth presenting these words, the cadence is unmistakable: it's Scott Glenn, who plays Matt Murdock's blind mentor, Stick on Daredevil.
This certainly seems to confirm that the actor will once again be reprising his part in the new Marvel/Netflix show. But given what we know about Stick, it definitely makes us wonder exactly what kind of role he will play in relation to The Defenders team. Given his wealth of life experience -- not to mention context clues from the aforementioned quote -- one might guess that he may be playing some kind of leadership role, helping Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist work together in the face of great evil, but there are other reasons to think that this idea might not make a ton of sense.
Of course, the primary source of the confusion comes from Stick's general attitude -- on display many times through both of Daredevil's first two seasons. While there's no questioning that he has an appreciation and affection for young "Matt-y," he also takes every single opportunity to basically be as dickish as he possibly can. The guy clearly has a lot invested in the philosophy of negative reinforcement, as while he's constantly trying to get his protégé to prepare to fight the good fight in the coming "war," all of his training and lessons come with a side order insults and abuse (and it's especially hard to think of Jessica Jones putting up with all of it).
Horrible as his personality may be, there are also some reasons to think that Stick could be the right guy to organize The Defenders and lead them into battle against whatever terror is facing New York City's streets. Given how stunningly talented Daredevil is, there's no arguing that Stick has a gift for training pupils, even if their skill level is only matched by their angst towards their mentor. The guy also clearly has some key and important resources, as he is always in the know about the biggest dangers that are making their way to the island of Manhattan. He may be a total asshole, but there's an argument to be made that he has the knowledge and skill to give him a pass for all that -- which may wind up being exactly how the members of The Defenders see the situation.
Regardless of what role he is playing, the fact that we will be getting to see more of Scott Glenn's Stick on The Defenders is unquestionably a good thing. However, given that we are still mostly clueless when the show will air, it is still frustrating that such a big question would have no clear answer. We will continue to follow this story in the days, weeks, and months ahead -- but for now, hit the comments section with your thoughts on how Stick should be incorporated into the team-up show.
