There's a new Iron Fist coming to the Marvel Comics universe - and he can finally deal with the hero's problematic history. Created in 1974, Danny Rand is the immortal Iron Fist - a master of martial arts who learned how to tap into the power of Chi, and who has become one of Marvel's most formidable hand-to-hand combatants. The character even starred in his own series on Netflix, albeit one that didn't exactly win popular or critical acclaim. Stunt coordinator Brett Chan recently described on-set problems, commenting on an environment in which "everyone's fighting and the actor doesn't want to train."
But Iron Fist's problems run deeper than Marvel Netflix. "I think the source material is orientalist," sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen observed in an interview with Inverse. "Anything that’s set in Asia or with Asian cultures is treated as an object rather than a subject. Martial arts and yoga — it’s a consumption item rather than an actual culture to be respected." The comics follow the "Mighty Whitey" trope of old, in which a blond-haired, blue-eyed hero heads to an Asian city and masters their skills, becoming better than everybody else. Fans who understood the historic problems facing Iron Fist initially campaigned for Marvel's Netflix series to reinvent Danny Rand as an Asian-American, avoiding the racial tropes, but Marvel Television chose to ignore that campaign.
Now, though, it looks as though Marvel Comics is attempting to put things right. Marvel has confirmed the mantle of Iron Fist is about to be passed on to a new character, in a five-issue miniseries by award-winning writer Alyssa Wong and artist Michael YG. "It’s an incredible honor to introduce a new Iron Fist to the Marvel Universe," Wong observed in a press statement. "I'm excited to delve into the comic’s rich mythos and build on it. What does it mean for someone to take up the mantle of the Iron Fist right now, today? As a newcomer, how does one interact with legacy, and how does one honor it while forging a new path?"
This is Marvel Comics' chance to redeem Iron Fist by introducing a brand new iteration of the character, one who stands apart from the issues of cultural appropriation and the "Mighty Whitey" trope. What's more, notice that at last Marvel is turning Iron Fist over to an actual Asian-American writer, someone who can better understand the society Iron Fist is supposed to be linked to, who can write as an insider in Asian culture rather than an outsider looking in.
Iron Fist has always been viewed as a legacy title; in fact, Marvel recently revealed the first Iron Fist was part of the Avengers of 1,000,000 BC. With Danny Rand losing the power of the Iron Fist in the comics, it makes sense for the mantle to be passed on to a successor, and it seems Marvel Comics is avoiding the harmful tropes that were integral to the first Iron Fist. Meanwhile, it's also possible this will show way for the MCU introducing its own Iron Fist - one who avoids those tropes from the start.