As most Marvel fans already know, Iron Fist debuts on Netflix today. Despite the fact that the show hasn't received the warmest welcome from critics, it's still a fundamental step towards bringing the street-level team of The Defenders together. Finn Jones' Danny Rand is a particularly interesting Marvel character, but as the actor explains, he's not a "superhero" during the first season of Iron Fist as he is in the comics. Jones elaborated:
Danny has a long way to go before he earns the title of being a superhero. What we see in the first season, Danny isn't a superhero yet. He hasn't earned the right to attain that title. He has a lot of individual things he has to deal with before he can claim that identity.
Despite everything that the title of the series would suggest, Finn Jones' recent comments to TV Guide hint that we won't see the iconic Iron Fist during the first season of the show -- at least not in the traditional manner. This season of the latest Defenders-driven series is an origin story in the most literal sense, and it takes its time bringing us the classic version of Danny Rand, the man who just so happens to have a glowing fist. The struggle between his warrior side and his businessman side will take front and center for the live-action version of the character, and it's a conflict that won't have a quick resolution. That's a luxury that Netflix affords a story such as this; Iron Fist has 13 hours of continuous story to work with in its first season.
We have seen examples of this before -- particularly in the Daredevil corner of the Netflix Marvel universe. Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) didn't properly suit up as Daredevil until the final episode of his series' first season, and Jon Bernthal has remained vocal in his belief that we don't see "The Punisher" proper during Season 2 of Daredevil; all we see is Frank Castle on his way to becoming The Punisher. This seems to highlight the biggest advantage that the Netflix series have over the movies; they can be less economical with their storytelling and flesh out their worlds more thoroughly.
That said, while Matt Murdock and Frank Castle's arc saw them learning to embrace their identities, Danny Rand's arc is more about finding his persona. Finn Jones continued:
The first couple of episodes you see Danny kind of awkwardly fitting into suits. He's not used to this. He's in a suit and it doesn't feel right. Then he's in regular clothes and it still doesn't feel right. He's trying to find his identity. Eventually throughout the series he kind of claims some kind of identity through his clothes -- but we've got a couple more seasons to go before we get to that point.
If you are hoping to see the iconic Iron Fist outfit at some point in the near future, this may come as a bit of a letdown. Marvel is going to take its time with Danny, and that seems to mean that he's not going to properly suit up as Iron Fist for quite some time. Assuming it gets renewed, that is.
Marvel's Iron Fist is currently available to stream on Netflix. For more information pertaining to the rest of 2017's remaining spring TV debuts, make sure to check out our midseason premiere guide and fill out your TV viewing calendars, and then head to our summer TV schedule for everything in the months beyond.
