Marvel’s The Defenders will be released on Netflix next month and the team of heroes will face off against Sigourney Weaver’s mysterious character named Alexandra. While little is known about Alexandra, Weaver explained why she believes her character should not be described as a villain during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Weaver offered an alternative description for Alexandra:
“I’m not a villain. I’m an adversary.”
Revealing that Alexandra has a history of facing foes who wanted to take her down, showrunner Marco Ramirez explained why he would describe the character as “a survivor”:
“She’s about self-preservation, and self-preservation at all costs… She has the long game in mind, and she isn’t thinking about this chess game, she’s thinking about six chess games in the future. As such, I think she’s seen a lot of beauty in humanity and in the world, but there are certain things that to her are expendable, and that’s a really dangerous worldview.”
Weaver added that referring to the Alexandra as a villain implies negative traits too often attributed to female opponents and explained how she worked with the writers to ensure the character did not fall into the trope:
“I encouraged [them] to not think in those terms, because I find them completely meaningless, and to help me understand who I was from a really un-cliché-ed point of view. I think we succeeded in that.”
Weaver also explained why the concept of the series drew her towards the show:
“These characters are regular people who have a couple of very important gifts, but they’re not superheroes, and they don’t jump around in boots and capes. It’s not apocalyptic. It’s all about the city, and as a New Yorker, I cared about that instantly. Making that block that much better for the people who live on it, that really spoke to me.”
Weaver shared her own take on why Alexandra will find herself facing off against the titular team:
“There are things she cares about deeply, but she probably doesn’t care about the same things the Defenders care about, so that puts them on a collision course. In many ways, she’s an admirable person.”
Personally, between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming, Marvel has been on a roll when it comes to their villains and it would be great to see Sigourney Weaver’s Alexandra become another excellent addition to the list of great Marvel Cinematic Universe adversaries.
Marvel’s The Defenders stars Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, Finn Jones, Deborah Ann Woll, Simone Missick, Elden Henson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Eka Darville, Rachel Taylor, Rosario Dawson, Scott Glenn, Jessica Henwick, Elodie Yung and Sigourney Weaver.
Marvel’s The Defenders is set to debut on Netflix on August 18, 2017.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
