Welcome to my second post on a new category I like to call, “Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches” In this series, I will discuss the latest TV show, movie, podcast, or other media content that I finished watching. I just finished watching Iron Fist which has had a lot of Marvel fans talking and posting online.
Iron Fist centers around Danny Rand (played by Finn Jones) who becomes a trained warrior titled the Iron Fist after his parent’s plane crash in the Himalayas. After 15 years he returns to modern New York and is quickly shocked to find that the Hand (the terrorist organization that is the sworn enemy of the Iron Fist) has infiltrated Rand Enterprises/Danny’s company. The show tells Danny’s story as he takes back his company and uncovers what happened to his parents.
To make this post easier to read, I decided to put bullet points for my initial thoughts on the show. Another reminder that there will be spoilers after this paragraph.
- Finn Jones did an okay job being Iron Fist, but I think it would have been really cool if Marvel added diversity to the cast of the Defenders and cast an Asian American actor.
- Ward Meachum is a jerk in the beginning.
- Wow, Faramir is a bad guy and is portraying an evil dad, how ironic.
- Iron Fist does a better job explaining the back story of the Hand than Daredevil Season #2.
- I was shocked that Colleen ended up being a part of the Hand, I wasn’t expecting that. It goes to show how you can be so devoted to a cause without really understanding what you pledged yourself to.
- Iron Fist goes at a slower pace than the other Marvel Netflix shows
- Colleen Wing was my favorite character in the show along with Ward Meachum.
- I felt bad for Joy Meachum because I feel she didn’t get the character development that she deserved.
- This show isn’t mediocre because of Donald Trump’s presidency (Finn Jones blamed the show for being bad because of Trump being elected as president)
As for ranking the Marvel Netflix superheroes, Iron Fist is my least favorite. I don’t think the show was horrible like other reviewers stated, but it definitely has its weak moments. I will say that I was disappointed because I had high hopes for the show. I’m still excited for the Defenders, but if Iron Fist does receive a second season, I hope it will be better in quality.
Bizarre Brunette 
*Spoilers included*I figured something weird was going on with Colleen in episode 2, given her martial arts training in the real world was basically training her students to perform a mugging but I didn’t see the actual twist coming. That felt a bit weird to me, as did Madame Gao’s connection to the Hand (I cannot recall if she was connected in the comics, and in Daredevil the Hand were established as Japanese, whereas she is Chinese/not from earth. I suspect she was connected to the Hand to tie it all neatly together. Good review.
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I am 90% confident that Madame Gao was indeed part of the Hand in Season #1 of Daredevil. Good noticing of the smaller details though! True Colleen was training her students pretty harshly. I think it says a lot about the series too that Colleen and Danny were recruited so young that they both don’t realize their end goal of what they are fighting for.
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Nobu was leading the hand in Daredevil. He always arrive separately to Gao. It wasn’t so much as harsh training but her training was tgat of offence, being the attacker and doing so in groups. That is useless in self defence. Agreed on your last point.
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I agree it was very slow. I think it could have been 10 episodes not the full 13. I’d like to have seen more of Davos/Steel Serpent.
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Davos could have been really cool! I also think it’s interesting at the end trying to talk to Joy about Danny’s death. Does that mean that Davos is part of the Hand all along? Will Joy become part of the Hand?
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I still haven’t watched it, but I don’t think I’m going to. I’ve heard almost nothing but horrible things about it! I’m glad you didn’t think it was horrible! Maybe I’ll give it a shot after all!
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Eh… I mean if you’re on the fence about it than I say don’t watch it. I just wanted to watch it to say that I did.
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I know I’ll be skipping this one. I knew/know nothing about Iron Fist as a comic or character, and the show didn’t look all that interesting to me. Topped with all the negatives I’ve heard about it I’m just going to skip it. Too many other things to watch!
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Yeah I would skip it. Just look up the episodes on wikipedia.
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It is on my list for a review as well, I’m so far behind. I wanted to love this show, but after they passed over Lewis Tan for Finn Jones, i just had to shake my head. I think Ward is an asshole as well but he tried so hard at the same time to save everyeone and everyone brushed him off. To that end I found his actor and Harold to both have done a pretty terrible job displaying their acting chops.
I think the bit with Davos and Joy at the end was maybe one of the most interesting things to happen in the series. I’m not sure if Iron Fist will get a season two but hopefully Finn does a much better job at Danny in the Defenders…….
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Yeah I hope so too. I actually didn’t mind Ward all that much. I mean I thought his acting wasn’t bad, but I do feel that Harold wasn’t that menacing of a villain either.
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Well, I wrote about Iron Fist on my blog. I was shockinly seeing myself in Danny. As someone who has lived during 8 years in Tokyo, I felt that the character was more about an “expat” than someone trying to be asian. So, I don’t see him as whitewashing, but someone representing expats. The number of which is pretty reduced. But, I saw myself in him a lot (naive, and everyone sees you like a crazy one). So, in that sense, Iron Fist hit hard. So, I’m a super fan now LOL Iron Fist is slow, yup, but I found that its pace was in tune with what you find in many Japanese movies. So, I didn’t feel aback by it. [As you can see, me liking the show is deeply related to my experience in Japan.] I also loved the reference to the Drunken Master :p
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I read your article that you wrote! That’s a nice touch the naming of all the episodes.
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