According to singer-songwriter Carl Douglas, in the early 1970s, literally everybody was kung-fu fighting. Everybody. Your mother, your father, your grandparents—everybody. Never one to miss out on a hot new trend capturing the hearts and minds of impressionable teens across the nation, Marvel rolled out their own twist on the kung-fu craze: Iron Fist. After suffering great personal tragedy in the Himalayan mountains, young Danny Rand went on to train to become a master of martial arts in the mystical city of K’un-Lun. Imbued with the power of the Iron Fist, Rand returns to New York City to kick ass, take names, and seek righteous vengeance. That’s his origin in a nutshell, but we’re going to get into all the narrative nooks and crannies on today’s episode of The Dan Cave, which is a deep dive into Iron Fist’s comic book history.
And just in the nick of time, too! Iron Fist is Marvel’s fourth and final Defender, and the star of his very own Netflix series, which is set to bow on March 17, 2017. According to showrunner Scott Buck, Danny Rand, a.k.a. Iron Fist, is “a billionaire New York Buddhist monk martial arts superhero,” which makes for an interesting series of adjectives if nothing else. Played by Game of Thrones star Finn Jones, Danny Rand will bring his unique brand of martial arts mayhem to the MCU, joined by familiar faces like Colleen Wing and Clair Temple. But why should you care? What will that first season of Iron Fist involve? Does he really have a dragon tattooed on his chest? All that and more will be answered on today’s show!
What’s your favorite Iron Fist story? What would you like to see from the Netflix series? Let us know in the comments.
Image: Marvel Comics
Source: Marvel, Comic Vine, Wikia
Don’t miss a single episode of The Dan Cave! Subscribe to this playlist.
Tired of getting kicked out of restaurants for being topless? Buy a The Dan Cave t-shirt!
Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter and ask him about all things anime (@Osteoferocious).
