In just two days, Marvel and Netflix will see their fourth series leading up to The Defenders be made available to the world. While the previous three series' have been somewhat grounded in reality, Iron Fist is scheduled to be the most unbelievable concept they've tried to tackle. This is what happens when the lead character possesses the power of the Immortal Iron Fist after defeating a dragon (but don't expect Shou-Lao to appear) in a mystical city that only appears once every few years.
Even though initially excitement was present for a martial arts heavy series to join the ranks of this universe, the early reviews have been far from glowing. Some of the reasoning behind the disdain for the series has been attributed to a lack of action or in some cases the casting of Finn Jones as Danny Rand after many hoped for an Asian American to take the role. Iron Fist kept the comic portrayal of the character accurate, but the star says they will be making a big change to the mystical city he visits.
Jones spoke to The Daily Beast about a variety of topics concerning the upcoming series. With his casting still being a hot topic of conversation, Jones revealed a new twist to K'un-Lun. For the purposes of the show, they decided to make the traditionally Chinese/Tibetan only population more inclusive.
What you may not know about K’un-Lun yet is that in our version of the story, K’un-Lun isn’t predominantly an Asian culture. K’un-Lun is a diverse place with people from all over the world—South America, Europe, Asians, and Caucasian people all reside in this place.
After these comments from Jones, The Daily Beast spoke to showrunner Scott Buck over the phone who elaborated on this change.
It’s a celestial city that exists in another dimension and because of that there’s nothing that we felt made it specifically Chinese or Tibetan. We certainly modeled it after Tibetan monasteries, but it felt like we just naturally wanted to open it up to make it a little more diverse just because it gives us a lot more options in writing about it, I believe. The entry to the city is somewhere in Asia but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an Asian city, wholly
While we may never know the true reasoning behind this change, it very well could just be to help lessen the potential for Danny to be looked at as a "white savior." Even though this could be looked at in a negative light as it ultimately means that less Asian representation will be included in K'un-Lun, it does allow for the show to feature a variety of races and be more diverse than possible.
In fact, an example to how K'un-Lun could be portrayed could be as easy as looking at Doctor Strange and how Kamar-Taj had a very diverse group of characters. Iron Fist could be looking to do something similar here and give all races the chance to be represented in the mystical city. Regardless of how well this explanation works right now, the true test will be the reactions of those that watch the entire series. These reactions should come in rather quickly starting this weekend, so it will be interesting to see the reaction to this change, and the series as a whole, unfold.
Daredevil seasons 1 and 2, Jessica Jones season 1, and Luke Cage season 1 are now available on Netflix. Iron Fist season 1 premieres on March 17. The Defenders arrive sometime in the summer, with The Punisher coming later this year. Premiere dates for the newest seasons of Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and Luke Cage have not yet been revealed.
Source: The Daily Beast