Earlier this month it was announced that Marvel would be working with Netflix to produce a set of four miniseries in 2015 that would introduce Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, and Daredevil. These four heroes would then team up as the Defenders for a "miniseries event". The Defenders are a Marvel super-team like the Avengers, but consisting of a mix of less famous, darker, more fringe characters. We've since heard that writers and producers are already getting hired.

It isn't entirely clear if these miniseries will tie back in to the Marvel Movieverse and/or Agents of SHIELD, but I certainly hope so. Kevin Feige keeps talking about a Doctor Strange movie being right at the top of his wishlist, and Doctor Strange is as integral to the Defenders as Captain America is to the Avengers; with these webseries due to come out in 2015 - the same year as Avengers 2 - I have my fingers crossed for a Doctor Strange movie to fill Marvel's sass/beard quota for "Phase 3" (in the absence of Iron Man 4), which will somehow tie into these webseries.

Also, it was just announced that J August Richards would be back again for the mid-season two-parter of Agents of SHIELD. I have my toes crossed for his character evolving into Luke Cage: same powers, similar attitude, and J August Richards is exactly the sort of person who'll be familiar to the kind of audience a Netflix miniseries would get without the unaffordable movie star price tag.