Whenever early reviews for the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe endeavor hit the web, we’re very accustomed to seeing positive reports for the most part. However, when the early reviews for the upcoming Netflix series ‘Iron Fist’ dropped, the majority of critics had negative things to say about the fourth piece of the Defenders puzzle. Now, Danny Rand himself has some words for the naysayers.
True Believers have been hearing from Finn jones a lot lately. Even though he took a brief hiatus from social media recently, the actor has talked in depth about the various concerns surrounding ‘Iron Fist’ such as whitewashing, the white savior trope, and more. But now, Jones takes aim at the critics that were given access to the first six episodes of his new Marvel series and nearly all panned it. And while he does go to a common explanation for why a show may not be a critical hit while speaking to The Metro, he may be onto something:
“Well I think there’s multiple factors. What I will say is these shows are not made for critics, they are first and foremost made for the fans. I also think some of the reviews we saw were seeing the show through a very specific lens, and I think when the fans of the Marvel Netflix world and fans of the comic books view the show through the lens of just wanting to enjoy a superhero show, then they will really enjoy what they see. I think it’s a fantastic show which is really fun and I think it stands up there with the other Defenders’ shows without a doubt.“
For starters, unless the project is clearly Oscar bait, nothing is actually made for the critics. Obviously, the House of Ideas and just about anyone else doing a comic book show or movie puts more stock in what their fans have to say. Then in the few reviews that I read, they focused more on what the show could have been rather than what it was, which is a bit unfair. Just because shows have the potential to be progressive doesn’t mean that they have to be in order to be enjoyable (even though it would be nice to have a show that’s both).
It’s also important to keep in mind that these critics only had access to the first six episodes. We’ve heard time and time again that the creators behind these Marvel/Netflix shows view them as 13-hour movies rather than traditional TV shows. The critics are only judging ‘Iron Fist’ after only getting half the story. It may be a bit much to ask for someone to go through the entire run before forming an opinion, but knowing that there’s more to come is something to take into consideration.
And finally, just because ‘Daredevil’, ‘Jessica Jones’, and ‘Luke Cage’ all started off strong and fell into a lull towards the middle doesn’t mean that this show will follow that template. Because ‘Iron Fist’ has to set up a more fantastical element (aka magic), it’s possible that this particular series could drag a little in the beginning as it does the tedious job of world building. And as we’ve seen on ‘The Walking Dead’ this season, viewers don’t always appreciate world building when they’re expecting more action.
But at the end of the day, we need to judge for ourselves. ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and ‘Two and a Half Men’ (or basically any show created by Chuck Lorre) is proof that sometimes people still enjoy bad things. There are even some out there who know that a show (or in some cases, the entire reality TV genre) is bad and will continue to watch anyway because it’s their “guilty pleasure”. So whether or not it lives up to the bar set by Marvel Television’s previous efforts, fans will have the opportunity to find out for themselves how ‘Iron Fist’ stacks up later this week. Until then, let us know what you think about Finn Jones’ comments below.
‘Iron Fist’ starring Finn Jones, Jessica Henwick, David Wenham, Jessica Stroup, Tom Pelphrey, Rosario Dawson, and Carrie-Ann Moss hits Netflix on March 17, 2016.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
