Iron Fist Information

Marvel's Iron Fist, or simply Iron Fist, is an upcoming American web television series developed for Netflix by Scott Buck, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise and is the fourth in a series of shows that will lead up to a Defenders crossover miniseries. The series is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, with Buck serving as showrunner.

Finn Jones stars as Danny Rand / Iron Fist, a martial arts expert with the ability to call upon the power of the Iron Fist. Jessica Henwick, David Wenham, Jessica Stroup and Tom Pelphrey also star. Development for the series began in late 2013, with Buck hired as the series showrunner in December 2015 and Jones cast as Rand in February 2016. Filming began in New York City in April 2016. Iron Fist is scheduled to be released in 2017.

Premise

Danny Rand returns to New York City, after being missing for years, to fight corruption with a proficiency in kung-fu and the ability to call upon the power of the Iron Fist.

Cast and characters

Main

• Finn Jones as Danny Rand / Iron Fist:

A billionaire Buddhist monk and martial arts expert, proficient in kung-fu with the ability to call upon the power of the Iron Fist. On being cast as the character, Jones said he was drawn to the character and his background, saying, "I really enjoy how he"?s a superhero with a real heart but has spiritual elements as well. I think it"?s going to be an exciting character to play because there"?s this contraction of on one hand he"?s from a very wealthy family, he"?s a billionaire, on the other hand he"?s been in this world of K"?un-Lun for a long time where he"?s learned kung fu and buddhist philosophy. There"?s a contradiction in those elements that"?s going to be really fun to play." In preparation for the role, Jones studied kung fu, wushu and tai chi, along with weight training, Buddhist philosophy and meditation.

• Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing: An ally of Rand, who runs her own martial arts dojo in New York City.
• David Wenham as Harold Meachum: A ruthless corporate leader who was partners with Rand"?s parents at the time of their deaths.
• Jessica Stroup as Joy Meachum: The daughter of Harold and childhood acquaintance of Rand's, whose work building up Rand Enterprises with her brother Ward is threatened to be undone with Rand's return.
• Tom Pelphrey as Ward Meachum: The son of Harold and childhood acquaintance of Rand's, whose work building up Rand Enterprises with his sister Joy is threatened to be undone with Rand's return.

Guest

• Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth: An attorney who helps Rand once he returns to New York. Moss reprises her role from previous Marvel Netflix series.
• Michael Maize

Production

Development

In October 2013, Deadline reported that Marvel was preparing four drama series and a miniseries, totaling 60 episodes, to present to video on demand services and cable providers, with Netflix, Amazon, and WGN America expressing interest. A few weeks later, Marvel and Disney announced that they would provide Netflix with live action series centered around Iron Fist, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, leading up to a miniseries based on the Defenders. In January 2015, the official title was revealed to be Marvel's Iron Fist.

In November 2015, Marvel Television head and executive producer Jeph Loeb addressed unconfirmed rumors that Marvel was having a difficult time balancing Iron Fist's mystical elements in its grounded world, and that the series would be changed to a film or replaced with a Punisher series, saying, "There was a lot of speculation about what was going on with Iron Fist, because [fans] hadn't heard anything about it, but there's never been any change at all". He added that Marvel and Netflix deliberately wanted to hold off on Iron Fist news until Jessica Jones premiered, in order for that series to get the spotlight since it revolved around a character largely unknown to the mass audience, unlike Iron Fist, and that news on a showrunner would be coming. In December 2015, Marvel announced that Scott Buck would serve as showrunner and executive producer of the series.

Also in January 2015, Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos stated the series was "eligible to go into multiple seasons for sure" and Netflix would look at "how well [they] are addressing both the Marvel fanbase but also the broader fanbase" in terms of determining if additional seasons would be appropriate. In July 2015, Sarandos said some of the Defenders series would "selectively have multiple seasons as they come out of the gate." Sarandos stated further a year later that a potential second season would not debut until 2018 at the earliest, after Marvel's The Defenders released in 2017.

Writing

Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief Joe Quesada stated in July 2016 that "there's a lot going on" in Iron Fist, with Buck and the series' writers weaving together "some great legends from Marvel present and past" including what Quesada believed to be the most antagonists in a single season of a Marvel/Netflix series.

Casting

Casting for Iron Fist began by January 2016, with Finn Jones being cast as Danny Rand / Iron Fist in February, but not officially confirmed by Marvel until March. At the same time, Marvel was in the process of searching for actors of Asian descent to play the role of Shang-Chi. By April, Jessica Henwick, David Wenham, Jessica Stroup and Tom Pelphrey were cast as Colleen Wing, Harold Meachum, Joy Meachum and Ward Meachum, respectively, rounding out the main cast for the series. Carrie-Anne Moss reprises her role of Jeri Hogarth from Jessica Jones.

Filming

Marvel announced in February 2014 that the series would be filmed in New York City, with Quesada stating in April that the show would be filming in areas of Brooklyn and Long Island City that still look like the old Hell"?s Kitchen, in addition to sound stage work. Filming began in April 2016, with the working title Kick. Manuel Billeter serves as director of photography for the series, after doing the same for Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.

Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins

Iron Fist is the fourth of the ordered Netflix series, after Marvel's Daredevil, Marvel's Jessica Jones and Marvel's Luke Cage, before leading into the miniseries, Marvel's The Defenders. In November 2013, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that if the characters prove popular on Netflix, "It"?s quite possible that they could become feature films," which Sarandos echoed in July 2015. In August 2014, Vincent D'Onofrio, Wilson Fisk in Daredevil, stated that after the "series stuff with Netflix", Marvel has "a bigger plan to branch out". In March 2015, Loeb spoke on the ability for the series to crossover with the MCU films and the ABC television series, saying, "It all exists in the same universe. As it is now, in the same way that our films started out as self-contained and then by the time we got to The Avengers, it became more practical for Captain America to do a little crossover into Thor 2 and for Bruce Banner to appear at the end of Iron Man 3. We have to earn that. The audience needs to understand who all of these characters are and what the world is before you then start co-mingling in terms of where it's going."

Release

Iron Fist is scheduled to be released in 2017 on the streaming service Netflix worldwide. The 13 hour-long episodes will be released simultaneously, as opposed to a serialized format, to encourage binge-watching, a format which has been successful for other Netflix series.

Marketing

Disney Consumer Products created a small line of products that cater to a more adult audience, given the show"?s edgier tone. Paul Gitter, senior VP of Marvel Licensing for Disney Consumer Products said, "We"?ll be focusing less on products that are targeted at the very young consumer,"? and more on teens and adult with products at stores or outlets like Hot Topic. Additionally, the series will be supported by a Marvel Knights merchandise program that will open new opportunities for product lines as well as new collector focused opportunities. Despite not being a feature film property, licensing partners wanted to pair up with Marvel given its previous successes; "When we go to partners, they pretty much rely on history as being reflective of the future,"? Gitter said.