#LateToTheParty: Why Iron Fist Is Not As Bad As You Think

So, I’ve been putting off watching Iron Fist for one reason – the reviews.

Damn, the reviews have been scathing; like, it has actually been called the worst thing to come out of Marvel – Ouch!

Literally everywhere I turned, no one had anything good to say about it. So I chose to shove it to the back of my mind and pretend it didn’t exist. However, The Defenders is around the corner and I’m too freaking excited (I’m always excited about these things) so I decided to just brave it and watch Iron Fist so that I would be completely plugged in when Defenders finally airs.

Tbh, I’ve always been a fan of Danny Rand and Iron fist from his previous depictions in cartoons and the comics.  The Ultimate Spiderman Animated series actually got it perfectly with him – his chill, his humour, his abilities.

There are definitely some things the show, Iron Fist, got wrong – starting with the casting. While Finn Jones has definitely grown on me, I was actually upset when he was first cast and there are people who still are.

Secondly, the writing for Finn Jones – because apparently, they couldn’t do more with Iron Fist than make him a naive man-child. Again – I will say that Finn Jones and this version of Danny Rand has grown on me – but truth be told, he was off to a very bad start (and this is me being nice about it).

Let’s not even get started on the pacing of the show.  While this kind of pacing worked for Luke Cage, Iron fist definitely wasn’t given the formula to that success. The fight sequence was also the weakest of all Marvel TV series across the board (although not all its fight scenes are that bad) and then there’s the cultural appropriation of it all. Honestly, though.

But the thing is, when I finally sat down to watch the show and push past the boring first episodes, to the dismay of my friends – I was actually pretty into the show.

First of all, they had strong female characters that were actually serving a purpose. Joy Meachum, Colleen Wing, Madam Gao and Claire Temple.

Joy definitely had her weak moments – right up to the series finale but she was a formidable businesswoman who wasn’t written as an ice queen. I like that she didn’t have to give up her humanity to achieve all that she did. I also genuinely feel like her story will be a lot more interesting in the coming seasons, so I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt.

Colleen definitely grew on me; granted she is a bad ass female character and we need more of that, especially when it comes to Marvel but initially, it felt like she was just written to be just that – badass with no real depth. Luckily, this was a problem that was immediately worked on and then she became a delight to watch.

P.S. every time I saw Colleen and Danny on screen together, all I saw was Loras Tyrell and Nymeria Sand. Sorry, not sorry.

Another thing is this, Iron Fist devotes a lot of time into building the Hand as a formidable foe for The Defenders in the upcoming miniseries. We first battled with The Hand in the Daredevil series but at least now we know more about them; and, honestly, the more you know, the less scary they seem.

The supporting characters in this series aren’t half bad. Harold Meachum was actually both a positive and negative on this show – I liked him a secondary villain for the show, but sometimes the actor’s acting was just not that impressive. Also, Ward was definitely better handled by the time the end of the show got around. Actually, by the end of the show, everyone had finally found their footing – especially Danny.

Mostly, I think if Iron Fist was not Marvel material, the reviews would have been a lot less harsh. With excellent predecessors like Jessica Jones, Daredevil and Luke Cage, expectations were simply too high for this show to live up to.

At the end of it all, I’m not saying Iron Fist evolved into the most profound and best Marvel-Netflix show out there, because..let’s be realistic; all I’m saying is that, people should cut this show some slack. It has some flaws but it is still quite enjoyable once you drop your reservations.

If not for anything, watch it in preparation of The Defenders airing on the 18th of August 2017.

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