In December 2011 writer Matt Fraction and artist Terry Dodson launched a Defenders series with a mixture of classic and new members, which lasted for 12 issues.

A television miniseries The Defenders premiered in 2017 on Netflix, with the team consisting of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist.

Strange teams with Sub-Mariner and the Hulk to protect the Earth from invasion by Lovecraftian interplanar beings known as the Undying Ones and their leader, the Nameless One.

In the second arc, featured in Sub-Mariner #34–35 (February–March 1971), Namor enlists the aid of the Silver Surfer and the Hulk to stop a potentially devastating weather control experiment, inadvertently freeing a small island nation from a dictator and facing the Avengers under the name of the "Titans Three".

Editor Stan Lee, wanting to write all of the Silver Surfer's stories personally, had asked other writers not to use the character, and suggested that Thomas use Doctor Strange instead.

David Anthony Kraft and Roger Slifer volunteered to write the series, but issue #45 had no written plot, having been drawn by Giffen following a story conference with Conway.

While Gerber seemed unhappy with Grant's conclusion,[25] it nevertheless tied up the loose ends of the comic series, and is considered "canon" by Marvel.

He and Mark Gruenwald co-wrote The Defenders #107–109 (May–July 1982), which resolved remaining plot points from the Valkyrie story by Kraft and Hannigan published three years earlier.

[32] DeMatteis stayed on for only six issues of The New Defenders before turning it over to writer Peter Gillis, whose run was marked by shorter, more personal stories.

"[2] Though the series remained a modest hit through the Gillis/Perlin run, it was cancelled to make room in Marvel's production schedule for the New Universe line.

This lasted for the first several months of the title, before Doctor Strange was removed from the book, due to the character being reassigned to the "Midnight Sons" line at Marvel.

2) #1–12 created by Kurt Busiek and Erik Larsen, immediately followed by The Order #1–6, in which Yandroth manipulated Gaea into "cursing" the primary four Defenders (Doctor Strange, the Sub-Mariner, the Hulk, and the Silver Surfer) so that they would be summoned to major crisis situations.

The Defenders are assigned to New Jersey under the Fifty State Initiative, because the proximity to New York City demands more experienced heroes than can just be recruited from the ranks of Camp Hammond.

[43][44] During the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline, Doctor Strange forms a new version of the Defenders with Lyra (daughter of Hulk), Namor, Loa (a student of the X-Men), and the Silver Surfer to confront Attuma who has become Nerkkod, Breaker of Oceans.

Despite the prophecy supposedly being a hoax, the central storyline of the series involves a reunion of the original four Defenders setting off a chain of events leading to the destruction of the universe.

[48] In August 2017, Marvel launched a new Defenders comic book series starring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, based on the Netflix incarnation of the team.

[52] Written by Al Ewing with art by Javier Rodriguez, this new version of the team features Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer, Masked Raider, Red Harpy and Cloud.

Before the publication of the fifth and final issue of the 2021 series it was teased that the team would be returning after a short break in summer 2022 for another five part run.

[citation needed] Following a message from beyond the grave from Doctor Strange, a new team is assembled featuring Blue Marvel, America Chavez, Taaia (the mother of Galactus), Tigra, and Loki (a variant of the God of Mischief) to tackle a new cosmic threat.

Defenders membership was fluid, yet a few members were relatively constant: the three founders (Doctor Strange, Namor, and Hulk), Silver Surfer, Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Hellcat, and Gargoyle.

An alternate universe variant of the Defenders from Earth-1610 appears in the Ultimate Marvel imprint, consisting of Power Man, Hellcat, Nighthawk, Valkyrie, Black Knight, Daimon Hellstrom, Whiz-Kid, and Ant-Man.

[55] An alternate universe variant of the Defenders from Earth-10429 appears in the Iron Man: Fatal Frontier storyline, consisting of Captain America, Hulk, Thor, and Rescue.

The Justice League episode "The Terror Beyond" features Doctor Fate, Aquaman, Solomon Grundy, and Hawkgirl banding together to fight the otherdimensional deity Icthulhu.