David Wenham

With season two of ‘Daredevil’ featuring The Punisher out in the world and ‘Luke Cage’ gearing up for release in the fall, Marvel Television and Netflix have finally gotten the ball rolling on the final piece of the Defenders puzzle, ‘Iron Fist’. Back in February, the House of Ideas revealed ‘Game of Thrones’ star Finn Jones as our hero Danny Rand. Later, fellow ‘Game of Thrones’ co-star and ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ breakout Jessica Henwick was cast as Colleen Wing. Now, we have another new actor joining the fray and surprisingly he’s not from ‘Game of Thrones’.

According to Marvel.com, David Wenham has joined the cast of ‘Iron Fist’. Primarily known for his roles in ‘The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King’, ‘300’, and the upcoming ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’, Wencham will play the ruthless corporate leader Harold Meachum, who was previously rumored as the villain of the show. When Danny’s parents died, Meachum was their business partner and as showrunner Scott Buck mentions, the character’s involvement in the secrets of Rand Enterprises and Iron Fist’s past and future will unfold throughout the series:

“I’m very excited to have David as our Harold Meachum. David is capable of displaying raw, visceral strength as well as extremely keen intelligence. This will add up to a character of complex depth who will keep us off balance all season.” 

With our titular character in place and more of his cohorts from New York City joining the fray (presumably including Simone Missick’s Misty Knight and Mike Colter’s Luke Cage), the new show on the popular streaming service’s corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is really coming together. But we have yet to hear any casting from the K’un-Lun side of Rand’s story so far. Hopefully the actors tapped to play Lei Kung, Yu-ti, and the Steel Serpent will match the caliber of this announcement. 

What do you think about David Wenham joining the cast of ‘Iron Fist’? Are you excited to see him play Harold Meachum? Sound off in the comments below. 

Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences and puns far too much. Also, he is anxiously awaiting the casting announcement for Shang Chi even though he probably didn’t get the part. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.