Like “Daredevil”, “Jessica Jones” and “Luke Cage”, the “Iron Fist” series recently left Netflix for Disney+. The opportunity to (re)discover the Marvel series through 5 essential information.
After taking an interest in the heroes Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, Netflix in 2017 offered its subscribers a series centered on martial arts expert Danny Rand alias Iron Fist played by Finn Jones. On the occasion of the change of platform of these Marvel shows, we give you 5 anecdotes about the least loved production of the lot by fans.
An Iron Fist movie was planned in the 2000s
If Finn Jones was finally the first actor to lend his features to Iron Fist, it has long been expected that it will be Ray Park (Dark Maul in Star Wars) who embodies the superhero in a film. Launched in 2000, this project has experienced many setbacks, seeing several screenwriters break their teeth on the script. As for the production, it was first entrusted to the Hong Konger Kirk Wong then to Steve Carr (Doctor Dolittle 2), who threw in the towel in 2007.
Marvel tried several more times to get the project off the ground before finally leaving the billionaire with the Iron Fist in the hands of Netflix, for its shared universe which culminated with The Defenders, a series bringing together Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist in a fight against the secret organization The Hand.
Two heroes from Game of Thrones
To cast its main actors, Netflix went to the side of Game of Thrones! It is indeed the interpreter of Loras Tyrell, nicknamed the Knight of the Flowers, in the series adapted from the work of George RR Martin who obtained the title role of Iron Fist. Present from the first to the sixth season of the fantasy show, he is the brother of Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) and is very close to the latter’s first husband, Renly Baratheon (Gethin Anthony).
HBO Finn Jones in Game of Thrones.
In Iron Fist, Finn Jones plays Jessica Henwick (currently playing The Gray Man on Netflix) as Colleen Wing, the owner of a dojo who quickly becomes the hero’s companion. The actress was also seen in Game of Thrones where she played Nymeria Sand, the daughter of Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal) in seasons 5 to 7. A woman as good a fighter as the one she plays for Marvel.
Iron Fist isn’t wearing his iconic comic book costume
Fans were eagerly awaiting it but they never got it: in the series, Danny Rand never wears the signature costume of his alter-ego, Iron Fist. Although it has evolved over time and sometimes turned purple or white, the character’s outfit is usually green with a yellow mask in the comics.
Marvel
Colors that can be found in most of the hero’s clothes on screen to still remind him of his origins on glossy paper. A favorite accessory of the character nevertheless appears in a flashback of season 2: his classic yellow headband which hides his eyes and nose!
This is the first Marvel series that Netflix has canceled
Despite a record start at its launch where it had, for its first day, done better than Daredevil, Luke Cage and even Stranger Things, the series has, in the long term, disappointed many spectators. The ugly duckling of the bunch, it is considered by many to be the worst of Netflix’s Marvel series. What even proved a study of reviews from the IMDB site !
That’s why it came as no surprise that Iron Fist was the first show to be dropped by the streaming giant in late 2018 after its second season ended. At the time, the Marvel universe on the platform was not yet buried since a season 2 of Punisher and 3 of Jessica Jones were then in preparation.
But, in the months that followed, all the series adapted from the Maison des Idées ended up being canceled by Netflix, ending the deal between the platform and Disney, which was then developing its own streaming service, on which we can now find Iron Fist and co.
Netflix/Marvel
The Defenders!
It ends on a cliffhanger
Iron Fist had no real ending as the last episode of season 2 concludes with new possibilities for its heroes. A few months after the conclusion of the main plot where Colleen inherited the powers of the Fist of Steel from Danny, we indeed find the characters who now live separate adventures.
The young woman is now able to infuse the power of the Fist – which for her glows white and not yellow as for Danny – into the blade of her katana, which she uses to protect New York. While the old Iron Fist is in Asia and now has amazing new powers: not one but two Fists of Steel whose force he can transmit into pistols!
How did this all happen? If we suspect that it has to do with Orson Randall (quoted in the last scene and known for his “gun fu” technique in the comics), we will unfortunately never know more, unless Disney+ gives another chance to the series, like in Daredevil, but it’s hard to believe. As a consolation prize, we leave you with this excerpt from an interview with Finn Jones at Collider which explained what we would have seen in season 3:
“It was about seeing Danny take on the role of Iron Fist, fully accomplished, charged, and in control of his life. It was going to be an amazing story between Danny and Ward, overseas, almost like a buddy story. And Colleen in New York, isolated with this new power, struggling to accept her identity and this power. And then, at some point, we would have gotten together and probably made this crazy superhero couple.”
Did you notice these little details from season 2?