Who Is Sigourney Weaver's Alexandra, The Main Villain Of 'The Defenders'? Here Are The Possibilities...

The Defenders is surely the most exciting of this year's three Marvel Netflix shows; it's an epic that unites all four Marvel Netflix heroes in battle against the Hand! And yet, for all we've been building up to this story since 2015, it's still shrouded in mystery.

One question looms larger than all the others; who is Alexandra, the main villain who's being played by sci-fi legend Sigourney Weaver? Marvel's deliberately keeping quiet - in fact, even the name 'Alexandra' was kept under wraps for months after Weaver was announced to be joining the show.

All in all, fans have gradually become convinced there are three possibilities - let's check them out...

1) Alexandra Is A Gender-Swapped 'Daredevil' Villain

Back in March, Marvel finally revealed that Sigourney Weaver's character was known as 'Alexandra' - and we fans did what we do best. We began scouring our comic book collections, looking for any character with the name Alexandra. After all, why would Marvel keep this name quiet for months unless it was somehow important?

At first we drew a blank, but then we remembered that sometimes TV shows and movie gender-swap characters - Doctor Strange's Ancient One being an infamous (and controversial) example. So we headed back to our comics, and soon discovered a minor character known as Alexander Bont. In the comics, he was the first Kingpin of Hell's Kitchen, and was actually the man who ordered the death of Matt Murdock's father.

In the comics, Bont was a corrupt businessman who was among the first crooks Daredevil put behind bars. He eventually learned Daredevil's secret identity, and promptly broke out, drugging up on Mutant Growth Serum to try to take Daredevil down.

It wouldn't be hard for Marvel to adapt this character into their Netflix universe. Substitute the mysterious IGH (Inhuman Growth Serum?) for the Mutant Growth Serum, and a lot of Bont's arc would translate easily into the shows. The one catch, though; Bont doesn't have any connection to the Hand, and we know the Hand are the main villains.

2) The Leader Of The Hand

The next theory is that Alexandra is some leader of the Hand, one of their 'Snakeroot'. In the comics, you see, there's a reason the ninja cult is known as the Hand; they're actually 'the Hand of the Snakeroot,' an ancient cult who worship a demonic force known as the Beast. The Snakeroot had infiltrated the highest levels of global society, and included everything from businessmen to US Generals.

Both Daredevil Season 2 and Iron Fist suggested that the MCU version of the Hand is very similar, with high-level operatives placed in positions of powers across the globe. We know that Roxxon, a major company soon to be featured in Cloak and Dagger, was pretty much under the control of the Hand; we saw them working to subvert other major corporations in Iron Fist.

This is an intriguing theory, in that it suggests Sigourney Weaver could actually still be playing Alexandra Bont - but an Alexandra Bont who's been scaled up in terms of influence, and who's actually a leader of the Snakeroot. The major problem, though, is that it would face Marvel with more claims of whitewashing; a Japanese cult whose most formidable, high-profile leader is a white woman? Fresh from the controversy over Iron Fist, I suspect Marvel would be a little wary of that approach.

3) The Beast Itself

And this is the ultimate theory; that Sigourney Weaver is actually playing the Beast. This ties in with an oddly-worded comment from Mike Colter (Luke Cage):

"In this series you’ll find out that the things that happened to all of us [in our individual series] basically were all because of one entity."

His word-choice was... strange. Why would he be using words like 'entity'? In this theory, the Hand have been working to bring their god, the Beast, to Earth. A formless being, the Beast works by possessing people, and in the comics it even possessed Daredevil - during the "Shadowland" arc, which may well be the loose inspiration for The Defenders. If that's the case, perhaps the Black Sky - Elektra - is literally the "Bringer of Shadows" - the one who brings the monstrous shadow-being to Earth.

We've been told that Finn Jones's Danny Rand will play a key role in The Defenders - he'll be the one who understands what's going on. That suggests the main plot will be strongly influenced by mysticism. What's more, there's been a recent hint that someone in New York is looking for a 'lost city' - perhaps the Eighth City of Iron Fist lore, a Hellish hidden city in which demons were held captive? The search for the Eighth City could well explain the Hand's excavations.

Comic Book Resources has recently done a deep-dive into this theory, pointing to other quotes that the threat the Defenders face is 'apocalyptic'. As they point out, if Sigourney Weaver's character was just the Beast's chosen vessel, Marvel would avoid almost all criticism of whitewashing the story. Weaver could even still be playing Alexandra Bont, explaining why the name still mattered! Personally, I think this is a fantastic idea, and it fits well with the need to escalate the threat in order to unite the heroes.

To date, these are the three possibilities: that Alexandra is a dangerous businesswoman, somehow who perhaps works independently of the Hand but against the heroes; that she's a Snakeroot, a leader of the Hand; or, most excitingly of all, that she is the Beast itself. We'll just have to keep our eyes peeled for more clues as we get set for The Defenders...