Bucking all the recent rumors that the final show in Marvel Studios and Netflix’s Defenders series was in trouble and might not go through, the folks at Marvel Studios have finally cast the lead for their Iron First series. According to a report from EW, Games of Thrones‘ Sir Loras Tyrell himself, Finn Jones, will be playing the part of martial arts master Danny Rand. This ends a long search for the lead that hasn’t been without controversy (but we’ll get to that in a moment).

Iron Fist is going to be the fourth Marvel and Netflix collaboration following Daredevil, Jessica Jones and the forthcoming Luke Cage. These series and characters will then culminate in a mash-up mini-series called The Defenders, based on the old Marvel title of the same name. Scott Buck (Dexter) was recently hired as the showrunner for Iron Fist.

In the comics, Iron Fist is Daniel Rand, who at age nine travels with his family to a lost mythical city called K’un-L’un high in the Tibetan mountains. Eventually, young Danny Rand is adopted by city’s ruler and taught highly advanced martial arts and the mystical power of the Iron Fist. As an adult, Rand returns to his original home in New York City and begins a career as a superhero, eventually forming a long lasting partnership with Luke Cage as the “Heroes for Hire.”

The casting of a Caucasian actor has been met with some controversy, with several fans asking Marvel Studios to cast the part of Danny Rand with an Asian actor, since all of his powers and visual iconography come from Asian culture. MTV suggested that casting an Asian actor would be a “course correction” for the character, while others think it’s high time Asian actors stop being stereotyped into only playing martial arts roles.

Iron Fist doesn’t have a premiere date yet, but with a second season of Daredevil and Jessica Jones set to hit first, plus the first season of Luke Cage premiering later this year, don’t expect to see Iron Fist before late 2017 at the earliest.

Nerdist reached out for confirmation and both Netflix and Marvel had no comment. Stay tuned for more on this story as it develops…

What do you think of this casting news? What would you like to see from the Iron Fist series? Let us know in the comments below.