Marvel Netflix Memes

Marvel’s move into cinema has been pretty well-received. Fans flock to theatres in droves to see their favorite superheroes brought to life on the big screen. Additionally, Marvel’s cinematic universe exposes characters to people who otherwise might never pick up a comic book. After all of their success, it only made sense for the Disney-owned comics titan to keep expanding. That’s where Netflix came in. Marvel tested the streaming services waters with season one of Daredevil, which was so well-received that the universe kept expanding, giving fans shows of other street-level heroes like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist.

Now that The Defenders has aired, and each member of the team has had at least one season of their own self-titled show, it’s time for a meme roundup. Marvel’s Netflix shows have been phenomenal -- but they appeal to a different demographic than the publisher’s big screen endeavors. Where the MCU is semi-appropriate for families and features antagonists who threaten to destroy the entire world, Marvel’s Netflix shows are much darker. What better way to lighten the mood set by dim lighting and gunfire than memes? Now that you’ve finished binging The Defenders, prepare for your second watch through by checking out this list of our favorite Marvel/Netflix memes!

15 BAE DEVIL

The "I’m on my way" meme first gained popularity during Bernie Sanders’ campaign for the democratic primary. Many iterations of the meme showed the elderly Vermont Senator running down a hallway, which is why this Daredevil meme works on multiple levels. Parodying a well-known meme is a great way to generate some hype, but the reason we think that this meme is great is that it takes a stab at one of Marvel Netflix’s more repetitive aspects: its fight scenes.

Like the repetitive scenery, we get it -- you’re in New York and with that comes lots of buildings. But after a while, the choice starts to get a bit suspicious. Just how many confrontations can possibly take place in hallways? How has word not yet spread in the criminal community?

14 THE MCU VS. NETFLIX

It has been said before, and it is going to keep getting said: Marvel’s cinematic universe is wildly different from its Netflix shows. The movies are fairly family oriented. The MCU’s movies are mostly big summer blockbusters, so it makes a great deal of sense for them to be a bit more toned down, even if they do feature intense villains like Ultron. The MCU’s villains bring the world to its feet, but it still feels fun, and the Avengers always save the day.

Marvel’s Netflix shows are a great deal darker. They are fraught with gore, dark, mature themes and real world problems. They do an excellent job of portraying the less glamorous side of Marvel -- the street level heroes. And we could not have gotten a better cast of characters.

13 "MUST...FOCUS...CHI"

The kid with the pulsing facial veins was a meme that swept the internet off its feet for at least a good month. And you know, it might be the most accurate meme to describe the Netflix Danny Rand’s inability to not introduce himself (with his full title, no less) to almost everyone he meets. Honestly, he does it so much, it seems impulsive.

Danny Rand is not the first Iron Fist, and he certainly will not be the last. He just might be the most annoying. He has always sort’ve played the part of an annoying little brother to Luke Cage’s competent older brother in their comic book team-ups, and this seems to continue through his solo Netflix series. At least he’s a little more tolerable in The Defenders right?

12 EVERYTHING IS FINE

It is pretty apparent that Jessica Jones was anything but fine during the first season of her self-titled Netflix show, but that’s why this meme is so good. Taking a cue from the "everything is fine" meme, featuring a cartoon dog sitting at a table as the room goes up in flame, this meme hinges on the knowledge that Jessica’s life is not going so well.

The best part of this meme is that it is so relatable -- every one has had a time in their life where they were not on top of things, and it seemed as if everything was going wrong. Your first reaction might be to freak out, and that’s totally understandable. But, sometimes it might help to take a page out of Jessica’s book, and just keep pretending that everything is fine.

11 IRON FAILURE

Unfortunately, fans were not as excited about Finn Jones as Iron Fist as Marvel must have hoped. While the show was almost unanimously chosen as the worst of Marvel’s Netflix shows, a lot of the problems with the show were blamed on Finn Jones’ portrayal of Danny Rand. Some fans were upset that Danny Rand was not portrayed by an Asian American actor. But for whatever reason, most could agree the character could have been cast better.

Viewers weren’t the only ones who crapped all over Iron Fist, at least according to this meme. The Immortal Iron Fist does not really live up to his name. He is neither immortal, nor is his fist actually made of iron. He finally realizes that he is in fact, a failure.

10 UNBREAKABLE

If it was in any way unclear, Luke Cage has a pretty useful set of powers: he’s got superhuman strength and he has unbreakable skin. Cage’s skin can not even be pierced by bullets (save the Judas bullet from season one, of course). But as we have seen in the show from his relationships with both Reva Connors and Jessica Jones, Power Man is a bit of a romantic.

Just because the hero has unbreakable skin, and can throw cars without a second’s pause does not mean he is completely untouchable. Everybody hurts, and Mike Colter’s Luke Cage is no different. As the meme would suggest, no matter how strong you think you might be -- there is no amount of strength or endurance training that can protect you from a broken heart.

9 UNSUNG HERO

Claire Temple (played by Rosario Dawson) is the only character that has appeared in every season and show of Marvel’s Netflix. While the Night Nurse is not technically a superhero in the comics, (and she definitely is not treated as one in the TV shows) she is the glue that holds Marvel’s Netflix universe together. Without Claire Temple, we would not have gotten a second season of Daredevil, and maybe Luke Cage would not have made it to The Defenders.

While Claire Temple might not get the respect that she deserves within the Marvel Netflix universe, she definitely gets it from the fans. Dawson’s character is a fan favorite, and rightly so. This meme shows that at least Claire knows the contribution she’s making to the superheroes. Good to know she knows her worth!

8 WE ALL COPE

Just because they have powers doesn’t mean they don’t have it rough. Netflix’s Marvel shows are certainly a far cry from the studio’s movies. The Netflix shows are a great deal darker than one would expect after having seen the movies. It would seem as if all of the characters in Marvel’s Netflix shows have all experienced some sort of intense trauma. Between Luke Cage being falsely imprisoned and losing the love of his life, the traumatic things that Jessica Jones experienced at the hands of Purple Man and Matt Murdock’s childhood, there’s a whole lot to unpackage.

Having experienced all that they did, it is no wonder that Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and the Punisher (aka Frank Castle) all have coping mechanisms that get them through the day.

Navigating the internet has always been a bit difficult. Comment sections are a minefield, filled with anonymous trolls waiting to tear you apart. Much like the internet, Matt Murdock’s life is chock full of haters. The blind lawyer’s quest to use his degree to fight for social justice via legal means is only rivaled in intensity by his quest to use his abilities to fight for justice as a vigilante. And sometimes, you just need to ignore the haters and fight the good fight.

That is where this meme comes in. Clad in his classic "Devil of Hell’s Kitchen" costume from Daredevil season one, Matt Murdock’s masked face is a poignant reminder to stick to your guns. So take a page out of Daredevil’s book, and stay blind to the haters.

6 DOWN IN THE DUMPS

At the start of Jessica Jones season one, our titular hero has hit rock bottom, in a sense. She is a total alcoholic, and it has started to impede her ability to kind of have a career as a private investigator. While things definitely take a turn for the worse for Jessica before they start looking up, nothing is quite as debilitating as realizing that even a superhero’s life can fall apart and there’s nothing they can do about it.

While not all of us have had it as rough as Jessica, we have all had our troubles. We all have our own idea of what it means to suffer, and we all know what it is like to feel as if our lives are falling apart. This is a top tier meme.

5 LOCATION STARTER PACK

The entirety of all of Marvel’s Netflix shows, aside from flashbacks, takes place within the New York City limits. This should not be all that limiting, New York City is a very vibrant metropolis with great architecture, a large river and amazing parks nestled within rows of skyscrapers. Somehow, upon reflection, there is not a whole lot of diversity in setting in any of these shows.

They’re all sequestered in their own neighborhoods, and it works for the shows. But it leaves viewers looking at extremely similar scenery all of the time. But you know what? None of the shows really suffer from their stagnant scenery a great deal. This meme points out a pretty accurate shortcoming in Marvel’s Netflix shows, but even that can’t make any of these shows any less great.

4 RECKLESS

You have got to admit, if Matt Murdock was your business partner, you would get pretty worried by all of the bruises and cuts he shows up to work with every day. Exactly what kind of trouble is that blind guy getting into, anyways? That is exactly how Foggy Nelson felt every day during Daredevil.

This meme adequately captured the dynamic between the two longtime friends: Foggy would continually remind Matt Murdock to be careful, and Matt would immediately turn around and go do the exact opposite: doing the most absurd and reckless things imaginable. We can’t even imagine what would have happened if Foggy caught Matt dressing as the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen early on. Matt definitely would have gotten a pretty stern lecture.

3 COFFEE DATE?

Sweet Christmas! It is no secret to anyone who has been watching Marvel’s Netflix shows that there is a great deal of steamy content in them. It seems as if every character has had a great deal of mounting tension with their prospective partner before they hook up. However, none of them have had as classy a buildup as Luke Cage. Whereas every other character fumbles around awkwardly before having their fling, Luke Cage coolly extends an invitation for coffee.

This is not just a one-off joke, mind you. Luke Cage does this on multiple occasions on every single show he is on. He does this enough that it is actually deserving of its own meme. Harlem’s Hero flirts the same way that many Tinder-using college kids do, apparently.

2 BINGING JESSICA JONES

While we really don’t like to pick favorites, we think that it goes without saying that the first season of Jessica Jones was the best show of the bunch. Krysten Ritter did a phenomenal job as the titular character, and David Tennant’s Purple Man gave us the chills. Whereas some of the other shows had weak points and dips in the action, with Jessica Jones the punches just kept coming.

There is definitely such a thing as "responsible television consumption" but our experience with Jessica Jones definitely was not that. This was a show that you lose track of time watching. So yeah, we totally feel you. Jessica Jones season one had us feeling terrible at work the next day, because we were up all night watching it.

1 MEME GIRLS

If there is anything that the internet loves more than a meme, it’s a meme that references the movie Mean Girls. This meme tackled the very topical political controversy that surrounded the first season of Iron Fist -- Danny Rand’s casting. The character has been around for a few decades, but his origin does not hold up well. It never really made sense how a white guy became the chosen one of an ancient Asian city.

This meme riffs off of the scene in Mean Girls where one of The Plastics is confused at the concept of a foreign exchange student from Africa being white. Understandably, it’s supposed to be a comedic scene, because there are white people in Africa. Excellent use of a decade old movie to tackle a current issue.

Which of these memes is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!