Iron Fist Recap: From Season 1 To Defender To Luke Cage

Marvel's Iron Fist season 2 continues the heroic journey of the Living Weapon of K'un-Lun. In March 2017, Danny Rand (Finn Jones) became the fourth and final Defender introduced into Netflix's corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, the Immortal Iron Fist wasn't greeted with open arms either in his own show or by fans in real life. Since the kung fu hero's critically panned debut in his own series, Iron Fist has appeared in The Defenders and in Luke Cage season 2, and, little by little, it's been a path towards redemption for Danny Rand.

Iron Fist takes on a greater responsibility in season 2. Making his home base in Chinatown, he is now the protector of New York City, though he's not doing it alone. Joining him are his most important friends and allies, including his girlfriend Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick), who teams with Detective Misty Knight (Simone Bissick) as the Daughters of the Dragon, and Ward Meachum (Tom Pelphrey), who runs Danny's multinational company Rand Enterprises. The billionaire martial artist also has several threats to contend with, like Davos aka the Steel Serpent (Sacha Dhawan), Joy Meachum (Jessica Stroup), and Typhoid Mary Walker (Alice Eve). The threat of the Hand also continues to loom over Iron Fist despite the Defenders scoring a decisive victory over them last summer.

The new season, which is overseen by new showrunner Raven Metzner (Sleepy Hollow), also promises improved kung fu action and will delve more into Danny's training in K'un-Lun, depicting his conflict with Davos over which one of them would ultimately gain the power of the Living Weapon. Secrets are sure to be revealed, one of which was teased in the season 2 trailer when Danny says "I didn't ask for the Iron Fist!" season 2 could retcon Danny's origin. With the return of Iron Fist upon us, let's look back at the road Danny Rand has traveled in the MCU so far:

This Page: The Season 1 Disappointment
Page 2: The Defenders And Danny's Redemption

The Iron Fist Season 1 Disappointment

Iron Fist season 1 was the first Marvel Netflix series disappointment, at least critically and with fans, though the series was a hit and did high numbers for the streaming service. Showrunner Scott Buck's season eschewed the pulpy kung-fu action fans hoped for; instead, focusing on a twisty, overcooked tale of corporate espionage as the Hand tried to assert its control over Rand Enterprises. The fight scenes in season 1 were also infamously underwhelming; one of season 1's biggest problems was Finn Jones wasn't given nearly enough time to learn the complex choreography necessary to look credible as one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the MCU.

However, season 1 told Danny Rand's overall tale effectively. Orphaned at age 10 when an airplane carrying Danny and his parents crashed in the Himalayas, the boy billionaire was raised in the mystical city of K'un-Lun. After spending 15 years training in kung fu and then gaining the magical power of the Iron Fist, Danny abandoned his role as Protector of K'un-Lun and returned to New York City.

Danny was not met with a warm homecoming; Ward and Joy Meachum, who publicly ran Rand Enterprises, had Danny institutionalized, while the Hand took steps against their sworn enemy. Danny was eventually reinstalled as majority owner of his company, but he quickly proved he lacked the business acumen to be an effective corporate leader. Danny then learned that the Hand had long-since infiltrated Rand Enterprises and that Harold Meachum (David Wenham), Danny's father's business partner, was still alive. Harold died of cancer in 2004 but was resurrected by the Hand and controlled Rand from the shadows, manipulating his son Ward as his proxy.

However, Danny met Colleen Wing, a kung fu instructor who would become his partner romantically and in crime-fighting. Danny then learned that Colleen was raised by the Hand and her instructor was Bakuto (Ramon Rodriguez), one of the evil organization's leaders, which drove the couple apart for a while. Danny's best friend from K'un-Lun, Davos, also appeared in New York and confronted Iron Fist. Davos was defeated but ended up recruiting Joy Meachum to his side against Danny. Eventually, Danny and Colleen defeated the evil that infested Rand Enterprises and Ward killed his father and asserted control over the company while Bakuto was also seemingly killed. His company set to right, Danny then decided to return to K'un-Lun with Colleen, only to discover the ancient city had completely disappeared from this dimensional plane.

As a character, Danny was hard for fans to root for. He was quick-tempered, headstrong, and irrational. Even Colleen, the person closest to him, often found him frustrating and immature. Still, there was definitely room to grow, and by the time he realized his negligence caused K'un-Lun to vanish, Danny began to take steps towards growing up and becoming the hero he was meant to be.

Page 2 of 2: The Defenders And Danny's Redemption

The Defenders Team Luke Cage Daredevil Jessica Jones Iron Fist

The Worst Defender

If there's one line of dialogue from The Defenders that proved immortal, it's when Stick (Scott Glenn) announced: "The Immortal Iron Fist... is still a thundering dumbass!" Danny Rand finally encountered his fellow street-level superheroes Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), and Luke Cage (Mike Colter), and ended up being the butt of their jokes. However, Iron Fist also turned out to be the most important hero in the 8-episode series, at least to the Hand. The boy billionaire was the focal point of the evil ninja group's scheme: they needed the Iron Fist's power to open a doorway in the bowels of New York City. Within were the bones of a dead dragon, which is the source of 'the substance', also known as the key to the Hand's origins and their power of resurrection.

Danny ended up fighting both against and alongside the Defenders and, compared to his peers, he came off as the least capable hero. The Defenders ended with the heroes seemingly putting an end to the Hand and its leadership (although Madame Gao was the only survivor of the Five Fingers). It also resulted in Iron Fist receiving a new mission; when Daredevil (apparently) sacrificed his life to fight Elektra (Elodie Yung), he charged Danny with becoming the new protector of New York City. This was a role Danny did take on, with Colleen at his side. After his experiences with his new super friends, The Defenders changed Iron Fist and he was poised to rise to the challenge Daredevil laid down to protect NYC.

Luke Cage's "New" Iron Fist Sets Up Season 2

After several months, a "new" Danny Rand made a guest appearance in "The Main Ingredient", the 10th episode of Luke Cage season 2. The billionaire hero appeared in Luke's barber shop to offer some sage counsel and backup in the Hero of Harlem's time of need, and fans immediately noticed Danny was different. The formerly irritable and impatient Danny is now relaxed, focused, and possessed a clarity of purpose that he simply didn't exhibit before. Juxtaposed against Luke's soul-searching because of his numerous problems in Harlem, Iron Fist provided a center of gravity to Power Man and helped Luke settle just what was eating at him. Not only did Danny fix what was wrong with Luke in the episode, Luke's show, in turn, fixed what was wrong with Iron Fist.

Another welcome change was how Danny was treated by the people in Harlem who encountered him - he was a bit of a rock star. Instead of mistrust and derision, the young billionaire hero was welcomed with awe and respect wherever he went, cementing Danny's position as the Tony Stark of the Netflix MCU. Even Mariah Stokes (Alfre Woodard) was impressed that her arch enemy Luke Cage was keeping company with Danny Rand. Of course, Danny joined Luke in a few brawls and they debuted new tandem moves by combining the Iron Fist's power with Luke's bulletproof invulnerability. By the time they feasted on Chinese food at the end of the episode, Iron Fist's image rehab was complete and fans began to look forward to seeing more of this version of Danny Rand (but wearing his comics-accurate mask) in Iron Fist season 2.