The Defenders: Claire has no powers but she’s the most important character
With men and women surrounding her with powers, it’s hard to stand there and play the damsel-in-distress role. For much of the solo Defenders shows, that’s pretty much been the stance that Claire has taken. In Daredevil she was introduced as the nurse who stitched up Matt. She nearly fell in love with him but decided to back off. In Jessica Jones, she did more of the same as she came to help Jessica take care of Luke Cage who was shot in the head. In her second meeting with Cage she fell in love with him and in Iron Fist, she was a full-blown fighter.
As great fighters as The Defenders are, Clarie is still the most important. She’s the one that binds them all together and two have yet to find out. In Iron Fist I was amazed at the amount of screen time she received. In the other shows, she was mere a passer-by but in Iron Fist, Claire was a main character.
Claire already had this hard shell but once you encounter a blind fighter, a superhuman strong drunk woman, a man who is bulletproof and a guy with a glowing arm, how else is she supposed to act. The good thing about Marvel is they already have strong female characters but what they were missing was a normal woman.
Claire is as normal as they come but as we seen in Iron Fist, she tired of being stuck on the sideline.
Clair is ready to defend her city. When The Hand came, it was Claire on the frontlines with Rand and Colleen fighting for her life. She even had her own signature claws. Now, her role in The Defenders at first will be to bring the group together since she is the link. How that comes about is still a mystery but her relationship with all of them is solid, and if she calls on them for help they will come running. Without Claire, there will be no team and that alone makes her the most important member.
However, as Madame Gao told her, she is in for a world of pain. Which leaves me to wonder if she will make it to the end of The Defenders or not. If it’s one thing I learned during this Marvel crusade is that teams come together when they have something or someone to fight for. Will Claire’s death be the reason The Defenders form as a unit?
The city is in danger and only one person can save it. It’s ironic that she has no super powers but she knows enough people who does.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
