Though the information became public last month, Marvel has officially confirmed ‘Game of Thrones’ actor Finn Jones as playing Danny Rand/‘Iron Fist’ in their fourth Netflix series.
“Jones will play Daniel Rand, who returns to New York City after being missing for years. He fights against the criminal element corrupting New York City with his incredible kung-fu mastery and ability to summon the awesome power of the fiery Iron Fist.”
In the comics, Rand’s father Wendell is killed by his smarmy business partner Harold Meachum while they are hiking in the Asian mountains in search of the mystic city of K’un L’un. Danny winds up in K’un L’un, where he masters the art of the Iron Fist. Also in the comics, Joy Meachum, Harold’s daughter, walks in to find her father’s dead body with Ran/Iron Fist standing over it, leading her to assume he murdered him.
The show appears to be following a similar storyline, as Marvel Entertainment tweeted this teaser image:
Some secrets can’t be buried. #IronFist https://t.co/UexPYkIP6Y pic.twitter.com/CvPCvfia0B
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) March 17, 2016
So Joy Meachum will be part of ‘Iron Fist’, although how close the show follows the source material is up in the air. But so far, fans have loved the Netflix takes on ‘Daredevil‘ and ‘Jessica Jones‘, so it’s safe to say, however they handle the Joy/Iron Fist storyline, it should prove quite pleasing.
Scott Buck will serve as the executive producer and showrunner for ‘Iron Fist’. He made the following statement regarding Jones as the lead hero:
“Danny Rand is a very complicated character. He’s a billionaire New York Buddhist monk martial arts superhero who’s still trying to figure out what exactly that all means. Finn is able to play all these levels in such an honest, revelatory way that as soon as I saw him I knew he was our Danny.”
Fellow executive Producer and Head of Marvel TV Jeph Loeb added:
“Finn wonderfully blends confidence with vulnerability, making him the perfect choice as he struggles to find his place in the world. Now that we’ve found our Danny Rand, we’ve completed our principal cast for the upcoming Defenders on Netflix and we are thrilled to continue to show audiences unexplored corners of the Marvel Universe.”
‘Daredevil’ Season Two premieres in just days with ‘Luke Cage’ set to debut in the fall. ‘Iron Fist’ will premiere next year at some point, but we also know that ‘Jessica Jones’ is getting a second season. But as Loeb stated, all four lead heroes will come together as ‘The Defenders’ at some point in the near future.
How is the Netflix Marvel Universe shaping up? What do you think of Jones as Iron Fist?
Source: Collider, Comic Book Movie
