<P> In April 2017, the release date for the series was revealed via a teaser trailer designed to look like security footage showing the four Defenders inside a Midland Circle elevator . The teaser also featured a hidden URL which led to a faux website for the New York Bulletin featuring "plenty of easter eggs and little details waiting to be discovered"; the bottom of the faux website also confirmed the miniseries' release date . Dave Lewis of the Los Angeles Times felt having the security footage teaser end on the timecode 08: 18: 20: 17, was "a fun way to indicate the show's release date". A month later, Netflix and Marvel released an official trailer for the miniseries . They also released multiple motion graphics showcasing various character crossovers through the social media accounts for The Defenders as well as each of the individual series . Nicole Sobon of Comic Book Resources felt releasing each of the graphics this way was "a smart marketing move by both Marvel and Netflix, as over the course of the years, the Twitter accounts (for each series) have managed to drive in plenty of fan interaction by their' conversations' between the characters ." Cox, Ritter, Colter, Jones, and additional stars of the miniseries appeared at San Diego Comic - Con International 2017 to promote the series, where the first episode was also screened . The Defenders had its red carpet premiere at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center on July 31, 2017 . </P> <P> As Netflix does not reveal subscriber viewership numbers for any of their original series, the marketing analytics firm Jumpshot determined the series garnered 17% of the viewers that the second season of Daredevil received in its first 30 days, which was the most viewed season according to Jumpshot . The Defenders was, comparably, the least - viewed of the Marvel Netflix series and had the largest week - over-week drop in viewership, declining by 67%, 48%, and 41%, respectively, over the 30 - day period . Jumpshot, which "analyzes anonymized click - stream data from a panel of more than 100 million internet consumers", looked at the viewing behavior and activity of the company's U.S. members, factoring in the relative number of U.S. Netflix viewers who watched at least one episode of the season . The data excludes viewing that occurred on Netflix's connected TV or mobile apps . In October 2017, Netflix revealed The Defenders was the third-most "Binge Raced" series globally, and first in South Korea, of their original series . Netflix defined "Binge Racers" as members who watched the entire series within 24 hours after its release, and that data accommodated "for time zones and is reflective of a show's launch within 24 hours of a country's release ." They also went on to note that the "Binge Racing" ranking had "no relation to overall viewership ." </P> <P> The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 74% approval rating with an average rating of 6.47 / 10 based on 81 reviews . The site's critical consensus reads, "Marvel's The Defenders further develops well - known characters in an action - packed arc whose payoff packs more than enough of a punch to offset its flaws ." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 63 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". </P> <P> The early screening of the first episode at San Diego Comic - Con was met by "applause throughout" from the crowd . Tracy Brown of the Los Angeles Times noted after "a quick refresher on where each hero's solo story left off...there is forward progress in the narratives for each" of the Defenders, despite them not interacting in the episode . She added that the episode "includes fighting, lawyering, drinking, destruction of property, and, yes, even a little bit of physical loving" as has come to be expected for the Marvel Netflix series, and concluded that "if every episode of The Defenders ends in a similar way to this pilot, fans may end up binge - watching the show without being able to help themselves ." Polygon's Julia Alexander was "stupidly excited to binge the rest of the season" after seeing the first episode . On the episode, Alexander said "Even though you know they'll end up getting together to take on the worst villains the city has to offer, having a first episode to set up (the Defenders') own personal identities and narratives goes a long way for a show like this ." She also called Weaver's Alexandra "one of the more entertaining and intriguing antagonists we've gotten in a Marvel / Netflix series," with her relationship to Elektra making her potentially "the most deadly ." Peter Sciretta for / Film called the episode "a fine start" to The Defenders, but felt it did not "do a great job of explaining these heroes for people who have not seen the individual series ." He also commented on the use of color throughout the episode, with "colored lighting in the background to match the particular hero who is the focus of the scene" as a way to differentiate each character's story . </P>

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