New insight on the mysterious new villain in The Defenders

The Defenders premieres later this summer but Marvel has kept most of the details under wraps.

Luckily, Sigourney Weaver and show runner Marco Ramirez recently gave an interview with Entertainment Weekly discussing the former’s mysterious new villain in the series. Both actress and show runner were adamant that “Alexandra” is much more than your typical one-note villain.

Whereas the Marvel movies have had trouble fleshing out villainous characters (with the exception of Loki), their television shows have created some of the best. With Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Agents of Shield, and Daredevil bringing to life some of the biggest baddies on television, it comes as no surprise that Marvel would try to continue that streak with The Defenders.

When it comes to playing multi-faceted characters, Sigourney Weaver is completely onboard, in fact, the legendary actress spoke about collaborating with writers to ensure she wasn’t playing a generic stereotype.

"With my work in general, I try to avoid terms like ‘ice queen’ that are often thrown at women who aren’t completely sympathetic. 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."

Even though she’ll have different sides to her, don’t expect Alexandra to eventually be switching sides in The Defenders. She’s still a formidable opponent, and by the looks of the trailer, there’s a strong chance she has super-powers of her own. So who exactly is Alexandra? Is she truly a new character or someone who has been renamed from the comics? Ramirez has his own description of the powerful new foe.

"In her career, she’s come up against a lot of different people — armies, mercenaries, devoted religious fanatics and all kinds of different groups — who have tried to take her down, but she’s never met four people who are seemingly just interested in taking care of this one little part of New York. I think she’s actually really charmed by it, and weirdly, because they’re unlike anybody she’s ever faced off against before, it’s intimidating to her."

In the trailer, Sigourney Weaver already carries herself with the confidence of someone who’s used to dealing with formidable opponents as well as someone who usually wins. Considering her appearance as a leader of a corporation, it could be that Weaver is playing a gender-swapped version as a rival Kingpin named Alexander Bont.

A relatively small character in the Marvel continuity, it leaves plenty of room for The Defenders to transform her into something more compelling on the small screen. However, another scene in the trailer stands out that could lead her in a different direction. A small clip shows an earthquake-like force shaking cars and sending the four heroes flying has fueled a popular theory that Weaver is actually playing a gender-swapped version of Mephisto.

Who exactly is Mephisto? Well, he’s the Marvel version of Satan who is constantly causing trouble for the heroes of Earth. Considering Marvel claims all of their television shows and movies are united, it would make sense to introduce one of their most famous villains on Netflix after laying the groundwork on Agents of Shield.

Incredibly intelligent and powerful, he would make the perfect enemy to go up against the team of super heroes in the upcoming miniseries. However, Ramirez’s comments on Alexandra’s goals put a bit of a damper on the popular theory.

"Above all else, she cares about living. 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"

Mephisto isn’t actually a big fan of the living but another Marvel character might fit the bill. Considering the evil organization, The Hand, will play a major role in The Defenders it seems pretty likely that Weaver’s Alexandra will be tied to them as well.

Another minor character in the comics, “The Beast of The Hand,” would be an interesting twist on someone who hasn’t been explored that much. Appearing in the Daredevil and Elektra storylines, “The Beast” is the demon from which The Hand gets all of its power from.

More from Show Snob

It offers up the ability to resurrect people (which we know is happening with Elektra) and isn’t known to be actively involved with the organization which would explain why she has yet to be seen until now. Not to mention, “The Beast,” must possess a person in order to walk on Earth which would be another reason why Alexandra has yet to make an appearance until now.

"I’m not a villain, I’m an adversary."

Ramirez describes her as a survivor rather than a villain, but Sigourney Weaver has her own interpretation of the character. Rather than someone out looking to be evil for purely bad reasons, Alexandra views herself more as a competitor to the group of vigilantes.

Considering she approaches the four of them with threats against their loved ones, it seems like she will attempt to bring them down as a ruthless businesswoman would. It will undoubtedly develop a complex relationship with The Defenders whose hot-headed nature won’t help them in a battle with a cool-headed leader.

Next: The Defenders and The Punisher get new posters for SDCC

With a little over a month left until the premiere of The Defenders on Netflix, hopefully, more information will come out with Comic Con next week. Until then, hit the comments with your thoughts on who Sigourney Weaver will be playing and if she will be as complex as promised!

Home/Netflix