In a pretty unlikely but unique matchup, Spider-Woman and Iron Fist recently went at it in the middle of a cataclysm of symbiote dragons - and it turned out to be a pretty good fight. But who is the better brawler? Without the backdrop of a hostile world takeover, could Iron Fist beat the one-time Hydra operative?
Spider-Woman gained her powers of electric venom blasts, super strength and wall-crawling after her scientist father used arachnid DNA to treat her uranium poisoning. Her childhood illness has resurfaced and she is taking a treatment that makes her stronger but increasingly unhinged, fighting friends and foes. Enter Iron Fist. Danny Rand is an expert martial artist who was granted the mystical power of the Immortal Iron Fist allowing him to channel his chi into strikes powerful enough to take down big-league heroes.
Spider-Woman #7, by Karla Pacheco, Pere Pérez and Frank D’Armata, puts Jessica Drew in the unenviable position of trying to fend off a global threat by the symbiote’s god the King in Black, while she also is trying to figure out how to stop her old illness from killing her. She decides to take more of an unstable serum she’s been dosing on and literally foams at the mouth. She picks a fight with longtime-friend Captain Marvel and manages to break Carol Danvers’ wrist. Carol pulls her punches and tries to restrain Spider-Woman who is on a rampage. Jessica and Danny haven’t been on opposite sides of a battle before, but have had romantic entanglements. Once it's clear Carol isn’t up to the task of injuring her friend, Iron Fist steps in to put the hurt on Jessica.
Iron Fist is not above unleashing his signature punch against those that need their jaw realigned. But his ability to stack up against superhumans is mixed. Iron Fist has no other super-human abilities beyond his punch besides being in peak physical condition and a well-trained fighter. He’s tried out his punch on the Hulk a couple of times and both ended, predictably, with Danny in the dirt. Danny has held his own against the likes of Black Panther and Iron Man, but has a tougher time against goliaths like Hulk. Hulk was able to deflect a blow from the Iron Fist and break Danny’s hand in their first encounter. And Hulk took one on the chin voluntarily years later, knocking him through a wall. But Hulk was able to sponge the damage and walk away from the blow.
Spider-Woman doesn’t have the resilience of Hulk, but she does have regenerative healing abilities and could probably bounce back pretty quickly from one of Iron Fist’s punches. This comic doesn’t offer much to work off of since Spider-Woman manages to put Iron Fist down before he can land a chi punch. Danny gets in some good strikes and the small, divided panels make for an entertaining read on the martial arts training each character has.
Spider-Woman is more than capable of fending off Iron Fist’s basic strikes. But Danny still manages to injure her enough to charge up his punch. Only Spider-Woman is quicker and incapacitates him with a venom blast. It seems pretty clear that Spider-Woman is the winner in this fight. Had Iron Fist gotten off a punch this fight could have gone much differently. But Spider-Woman seems to have the upper hand when it comes to both fighting prowess and power. As long as she’s juiced up on a super serum that also makes her savage.