Hellcat gets Devil-Slayer’s shadow cloak. Stop it, Patsy, that thing is not a toy.
After she does her little dance, the team evaluates…
Also, Spider-Man stops by to help them fight Lunatik.
The fight is about a statue in tribute to Spider-Man, which is a pretty ugly statue and Spidey doesn’t want it erected.
Also, remember how Luke Cage often has trouble with the soda machine at the movie theater below his apartment? Well, The Defenders may have a running coffee-machine gag.
It’s moments like that–human moments–that make Defenders succeed where Champions failed.
On the subplot front, The Presence is still moping and pining for Red Guardian.
I feel his pain! Being rejected by the lovely Dr. Tania Belinsky would plunge my ass into deep depression, as well! As for your observation as to why the Defenders succeeded where the Champions failed- well, following the conclusion of the legendary Steve Gerber/Sal Buscema era, ‘The Defenders’ went totally to Hell- ‘The Champions’ was more interesting, with infinitely more interesting characters, and written and drawn by infinitely more talented creators than ‘The Defenders’ sub-mediocre David Anthony Kraft and Ed Hannigan, including the awesome, up-and-coming John Byrne! ‘The Defenders’ NEVER saw an artist even half as good as John Byrne! I do not believe ‘The Champions’ failed due to poor sales- I believe it failed due to company apathy. Marvel just didn’t care about it. I personally would have loved to have seen the direction of the continued friction of the Ghost Rider and Hercules, the inevitable romantic attraction of the Angel and the Black Widow, ( even though she was, uh, “with” Hercules for a while at the series’ end ) and how the success of the Champions would have shaped the life-paths of the Angel and the Iceman. ( as opposed to what they experienced across the following decades with the various failures of the Champions, the “New Defenders”, X-Factor I, and so-forth ) Obviously, I loved the Champions!