In 2012, the RZA took his love of martial arts films to the next level by starring in and directing The Man with the Iron Fists, as well as its sequel three years later. Therefore, it’s fitting that the rap star has continued to build his martial arts cred by directing an episode of Marvel’s Iron Fist series on Netflix.
Iron Fist star Finn Jones revealed RZA’s involvement with the series while taking questions on Facebook from Extra. “So before I started the role, I actually made a playlist on my Ipod of songs that Danny Rand would listen to,” explained Jones. “It’s a lot of kind of ’90s hip hop, like De La Soul, Jurassic 5, Tribe Called Quest, Wu Tang Clan. Like that kind of music is what Danny’s really jamming to. And we feature that in the series. And actually one of our episodes was directed by the RZA himself. Episode 6. So yeah there’s a very close tie with hip hop and the Iron Fist series.”
Jones noted that the RZA’s episode will be called “Immortal Emerges from Cave,” which suggests that it may depict some of the key moments from Iron Fist’s origin. Without spoiling too much for fans who are new to the character, Danny Rand’s battle in the cave directly led to his ability to channel the power of the Iron Fist (and there might be a dragon involved). Jones also said that that RZA was “really super chill” on the set, and added that he “has a really good vision of what he wants. And he really understands that genre, the martial arts genre.”
Additionally, Jones cited The Immortal Iron Fist series by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and David Aja, as one of his favorite Iron Fist comics and part of his inspiration for playing Danny Rand on the show. So far, most of what we know about the live-action series appears to be based on Iron Fist’s early appearances in the ’70s. The Immortal Iron Fist was a comic that greatly expanded the mythology behind the character by introducing previous wielders of the Iron Fist and the “Tournament of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven” storyline, which was simply amazing. The first season of Iron Fist may not get to that otherworldly martial arts tournament, but it would be perfect for a second season storyline. We’d even love to see RZA’s take on that!
Iron Fist‘s first season will debut on Netflix on Friday, March 17.
Are you excited to see RZA’s take on Iron Fist? Unleash your thoughts in the comment section below!
Image: Netflix/Marvel TV
