LOKI TITLE SEQUENCE WINDOWS

We don’t focus on street signs, buildings, windows or anything of the like-we have a higher view of the streets and city grids of New York, almost resembling blood vessels. Like the sequence for Luke Cage, the opening of The Defenders connects the heroes and their worlds by combining them in a visual fashion. This was a largest scale event, hitting all different parts of Manhattan and the different worlds that these heroes inhabit. The approach that Elastic appears to have taken was looking at New York City from a macro perspective. Iron FistĬombining not only these characters but these worlds into one sequence is a daunting challenge. We see iconic places for black Americans such as the Apollo Theater, and again and again we see the street sign for Malcolm X Boulevard, quite obviously one of the most prominent Civil Rights activists in American history, as we see Luke’s arm deliver a super-powered punch to a wall. There’s something a bit more humble, more down-to-Earth about this area. The architect and infrastructure of the mostly African-American Harlem is almost a skeletal system to Luke Cage, the very thing that keeps him standing and firm. This sequence more than the other Marvel/Netflix shows resembles that of True Detective, with the protagonist(s) essentially merged with the community that they inhabit. Upon conducting some research, I learned (unsurprisingly) that the same studio (Elastic), artists and creative director (Patrick Clair) worked on both True Detectives, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Fist and ultimately The Defenders. The first time I saw this title sequence, I was eerily reminded of the openings of True Detective ( season 1 and season 2). And then we have alternating images of a church and angel, referencing Murdock’s Catholicism and the important role it has on his life, followed with the image of this devil covered in the red substance, quite obviously our titular Daredevil. With the main characters being servants of the law, the very beginning of this sequences sets up the contrast between legal justice and vigilante justice, with a statue of Lady Justice covered in some sort of red substance-wax, or poison, perhaps? But most likely, blood. We don’t know this as we watch the sequence at first, but this plants the seeds for the plot themes of real estate and gentrification.Īnd then we have imagery that makes up the more inwards-looking themes of the show. From the very beginning, we understand that this story’s scale is large, with images of skyscrapers, bridges and tower cranes. We joke how Matt Murdock refers to Hell’s Kitchen (literally just several blocks in Manhattan) as “my city,” yet instantly this title sequences shuts us up with its visually rich characterization of the area.

Loki title sequence