The Defenders - Number of Episodes and Director Officially Confirmed

Marvel's street level superheroes Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist will team up together in next year's The Defender's series, and according to a new accouncement by Marvel, the Netflix-exclusive mini-series will consist of eight episodes, and a director has been confirmed to helm the first two episodes.

Marvel.com announces that S.J. Clarkson has been hired to direct the first two episodes of the mini-series. This marks the return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for Clarkson, who previously directed episodes of Jessica Jones. He also directed episodes of Orange is the New Black, so he clearly has good history with Netflix as well.

"S.J.'s take on the material is outstanding. We loved her work on "Marvel's Jessica Jones" and couldn't think of a more talented and accomplished person to helm the first two episodes of "Marvel's The Defenders," said Marvel's Head of Television and Executive Producer, Jeph Loeb.

Sigourney Weaver has been confirmed to play the villain of the show. The Defenders will premiere on Netflix sometime in 2017.