Wondering where all the Marvel Universe references are hiding in the Iron Fist Netflix series? We've got you covered.
This article contains nothing but Iron Fist spoilers. Seriously. Nothing else.
Well, the reviews might not exactly be the greatest for Marvel's Iron Fist, but your mileage may vary. One thing that hasn't changed from its Marvel Netflix predecessors, though, is the incredible amount of cool stuff from the comics that has made it onto the screen, either in the form of faithful adaptation or a character or piece of information that morphed into something barely recognizable.
But lemme tell ya, my eyes and brain get tired when trying to burn through this much TV at once, and there's stuff that's bound to get missed. So here's how this works...
I've laid out everything I caught on my first viewing. If you see something I missed, shout it out in the comments or directly at me on Twitter. If it checks out, I'll update this.
Note: Since I'm a few episodes ahead, I've tried to keep spoiler-specific stuff out of earlier episodes. So something that I refer to vaguely in an early entry may pay off later on. I'm trying not to let people be spoiled when they're just reading individual episode entries.
But beware! I can't control what goes on in the comments, so read with caution if you're trying to stay spoiler free!
One final note! I know it's annoying breaking this up into multiple pages, but in order to keep people from stumbling on stuff they don't want to read, I've had to do it. I'm also aware that our page navigation system isn't always great on mobile, so I've offered a couple of different ways to jump around. I promise we're not getting into that slideshow nonsense here.
Now updated with episode 8 details!
Alright, let's get to work...
Iron Fist Episode 1: Snow Gives Way
"After being declared dead 15 years earlier, Danny Rand returns to New York. But his welcome is a far cry from what he'd hoped."
Danny Rand/Iron Fist first appeared in 1974’s Marvel Premiere #15 by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. 1974 was the height of the martial arts craze in the US, and it spread beyond just the movie theater, with novelty nonsense like that miserable "Kung Fu Fighting" song infecting airwaves around the same time. Early Iron Fist comics were just part of the pop culture mood of the era.
Iron Fist ran as the main feature in Marvel Premiere for ten issues, and the first few of those, in the loosest sense imaginable (although perhaps not quite as loose as how Logan adapted its Old Man Logan comic source material) form the spine of these early episodes. In fact, the first two issues are about Danny Rand coming to NYC to enter a business tower, although in this case, it’s Harold Meachum’s company. Oh yeah, and Danny just strolls into NYC in full Iron Fist gear, which probably raised fewer eyebrows in mid-70s New York City than it would today.
- In those same early issues, we also meet Harold, Ward, and Joy Meachum, although in the comics, Ward is Joy’s uncle not her brother. But why split hairs, right?
- Colleen Wing made her debut a few issues later, in Marvel Premiere #19, which is only the fifth Iron Fist story ever, so it makes sense that she’s an integral part of Danny’s journey here on the show, too. We also met Misty Knight for the first time, not in the pages of Luke Cage, but in these early Iron Fist stories. Colleen and Misty ended up branching out on their own as private detectives, so don’t be surprised if those two have a future together.
- It shouldn’t come any surprise that the heads of a corporation like Rand Enterprises are absurdly rich, but holy moley, that 19 Gramercy Park South address where they live in is just about as posh as it gets.
- Danny’s whole “country hick in the big city” routine reminds me a little bit of Bruce Lee’s character in The Way of the Dragon for a few minutes here and there. Of course, Finn Jones is no Bruce Lee, but then again, who is?
- Colleen runs the Chikara Dojo. Aside from meaning “power” in Japanese, it’s also the name of one of our favorite wrestling promotions in the world, the ever-bonkers ChikaraPro. That last part is a coincidence, of course. But if you like superhero-themed wrestling, you should check them out.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
- I don't think there's any comic book signifcance to Kyle, but feel free to correct me.
- The only "Big Al" I can find any reference to in Marvel lore is a minor character from the first issue of underrated mini-series Spider-Man: Blue. I don't think there's anything to worry about here in that regard.
Navigate directly to other episodes here!
See anything I missed? Drop 'em in the comments or hit me up on Twitter!