Sigourney Weaver's Role in the Defenders Revealed—Just Who Is Alexandra?

At SDCC 2016, Marvel shocked the world with the announcement that movie legend Sigourney Weaver would be playing the main villain in The Defenders! The series unites the four street-savvy superheroes against the Hand, and Weaver's presence added a whole new layer of mystery to the show.

Marvel kept the character top-secret, only revealing her name — Alexandra — back in January. Now, though, we can finally give you the lowdown on Marvel's newest villain...

Meet Alexandra

This was the first image of Sigourney Weaver's character, revealed exclusively to Entertainment Weekly. Showrunner Marco Ramirez described Alexandra as an "utter badass", explaining:

“Sigourney is the kind of person you can buy as the smartest person in the room, who you can also buy as a person holding a flamethrower. Her character is a very powerful force in New York City. She’s everything Sigourney is: sophisticated, intellectual, dangerous.. I’m sorry. I can only say a bunch of adjectives right now.”

All this sounded phenomenal, but it left fans with an intriguing question — just who is Alexandra? If you want to know the answer, then read on, True Believers — but heavy spoilers follow...

Entertainment Weekly described the character as having "no code name and no comic-book history," and — surprisingly — they were right. The reason for #Marvel's secrecy was because Alexandra's past has been woven into the backstory of the Hand.

It turns out Alexandra was originally a disciple of K'un Lun, and she — along with four others — discovered a mystical secret that allows you to be resurrected. The Elders of K'un Lun were horrified, and banished Alexandra and her fellow Hand leaders. Cast out into the world, they became the Five Fingers of the Hand — the Hand's founders and leaders, granting their resurrection secret to those who would follow their commands.

There's never been a character quite like Alexandra in the comics, where the Hand's origins have never been tied to K'un Lun. That said, the Five Fingers themselves are fairly close to the Hand's leaders in the comics, a group known as the Snakeroot. Amusingly enough, the name 'Alexandra' is the female form of 'Alexander,' and literally means 'to defend.'

Marvel's Netflix shows have been fairly obsessed with crime-lords, but The Defenders has delivered something different; a villain who, we're told, has been responsible for leveling entire cities! It's fascinating to see Marvel create a whole new character, one who has no comic book roots, but who stands as one of their strongest villains to date.