At the outset of the New York Comic Con panel for the upcoming Iron Fist series, Marvel’s Jeph Loeb encouraged guests to stay until the bitter end. Those who did were treated to a guest appearance from Sigourney Weaver, as Loeb announced that she’d be assuming the role of the primary villain in Netflix’s upcoming Defenders. Loeb didn’t reveal exactly who she would be playing, but Weaver joined the actors playing the heroes she’d be battling—Mike Colter, Finn Jones, Krysten Ritter, and Charlie Cox—on the panel’s stage.
“We’ve not told you who the villain of The Defenders is, and the reason is for that, is we needed to find somebody that could take on all these guys and that you would be really happy with,” Loeb explained. He began his next sentence with the pronoun “she,” eliciting cheers, followed by chants of “holy shit” when Weaver emerged. (And The A.V. Club overheard someone say, “Sigourney Fucking Weaver, get the fuck out” while exiting the hall.) The other surprise guest at the panel was The Punisher’s Jon Bernthal, who was there to announce that the first season of his standalone series would feature Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, reprising her Daredevil role.
In the midst of all of this, Iron Fist itself ended up getting a little lost in the shuffle. The audience was treated to a trailer debut for the series, as well as some footage. Loeb did, however, tease the news that Rosario Dawson’s nurse Claire Temple—who’s appeared in every Netflix-Marvel series so far—gets to “kick some ass” this time around.