5 Reasons Why The 'Iron Fist' Netflix Series Was The Weakest Part Of The Defenders Universe

Marvel

Feb 9

The Defenders story arc is considered a power-packed addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). While Luke Cage and Daredevil and to some extent Jessica Jones have been given a lot of love, Iron Fist, especially the first season, received a lot of flak from audiences. Actor Finn Jones, who plays the titular character, tried to defend the poor performance of the show blaming it all on scheduling conflicts. However, there quite a few things were amiss with the show.

5. Lackluster Villains

The backbone of any superhero story is powerful villains who present a formidable challenge to the protagonist. In the series, the Iron Fist was mostly seen just punching street goons and thugs around. As someone who was brought up by warrior monks, trained in the mystical arts, and has defeated an entire dragon to become the Iron Fist, Danny Rand must surely be bored by the slew of unimpressive villains that he has been offered to fight in the series. Harold Weachum, one of the primary antagonists, is a master manipulator who sells his soul to the Hand to gain control of Rand Enterprises and later tries to rope in Danny’s assistance to get rid of the Hand. The biggest fight that a ‘living weapon’ has to wage is not really an actual fight.

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4. Lack Of A Bigger Vision

Despite Iron Fist’s punching prowess, the series does not leave a mark in the bigger MCU picture. Poor characterization of the villains complemented by a lack of strong supporting characters could have been salvaged by making the series fit somewhere in the bigger series of events in the MCU. However, the series, especially the first season, seemed like a very long introduction to the character and too not a great one.

3. Unsatisfactory Lead Character Development

Danny Rand’s character is a strange one. Danny acts like he can keep his cool but can easily swivel to the dark side. Danny’s back story is not fleshed out properly. In all its Doctor Strangeness, his time and training at K’un-Lun sound fascinating but all we get are faint shadows of the mystical place. It is difficult to understand Danny’s motivation to leave and find his old life again when he has worked so hard to become a master of magical martial arts and has fought and earned the title of the Iron Fist.

2. Lack Of An Engaging Plot

Some events in the series happen randomly. For instance, the random guy who offers to look up people on the internet for Danny on a stolen phone out of no context. Indeed the scene shows the kindness of an unprivileged stranger in contrast to the sullenness of the rich who refuse to help Danny. However, it still feels out of place. The series in general lacks direction. Characters say and do very confusing things. Strangely, nobody wore their seatbelts on the fatal flight that took Danny’s parents away.

1. Poor Action Sequences

For a mystical martial arts-themed superhero series, Iron Fist offers very little in terms of captivating action sequences. While we were not expecting a Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, some artful choreography is surely promised in a series of this sort. Marvel did offer some recompense much later in Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings; however, Iron Fist did not live at all up to expectations.

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