Who is Iron Fist?

2017 is chugging along, LOGAN got us started quite nicely with a huge opening weekend for a totally kick ass, best Comic Book Movie ever kind of way. While the next CBM isn't due for release until May 5th (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2) or POWER RANGERS on March 24th (that doesn't really count as a CBM though), NETFLIX is set to release all 13 episodes of their latest Marvel series... IRON FIST!

Iron Fist will be the 4th member of the Defenders team that will unite later these year for their own show. If you've been following the shows on Netflix, then you're probably already familiar with those characters. They started with DareDevil, then Jessica Jones, then DareDevil season 2, and the last series was, of course, Luke Cage.

These heroes are all "street level" characters. Meaning, for you new readers, that they handle the problems that are associated with their immediate neighborhood. DareDevil operates in Hell's Kitchen, Luke Cage in Harlem, Jessica Jones moves around a bit more, but mostly in Manhattan and soon enough we'll see where Iron Fist fits in.

So, who exactly is Iron Fist? Well, everyone is familiar with the billionaire-turned-superhero theme that tends to occur more often than not. Iron Fist is one of those, but his powers aren't anything like Batman or Iron Man or even the current version of Spider-Man right now in the comics (Peter Parker is a billionaire with his own company).

Danny's story begins during a trip to Asia with his parents Wendall and Heather Rand, along with their business partner; Harold Meachum who are searching for the mystical city of K'un L'un. The family and Meachum are hiking through the snowy mountains, when Danny loses his footing and falls over the side, pulling his mother down with him. Meachum, who is in love with Heather, actually pushes Wendall to his death and attempts to help Heather and Danny, but Heather refuses his help, and manages to get herself and Danny to safety.

Now, hurt and trying to run away from Meachum. Heather and Danny discover a makeshift bridge that appears out of no where. Before they can make it across, they're attacked by a pack of wolves. Heather throws herself on the pack to safe Danny, just as archers from K'un L'un appear and attempt to save her. They take Danny with them to meet their ruler, Yu-Ti, whom Danny expresses his desire for vengeance.

Yu-Ti hands Danny over to apprentice for Lei Kung The Thunderer, who teaches him martial arts. Flash forward a number of years and Danny has become a master of kung-fu and a prized pupil. He conditions his fists by plunging them into water, rock, sand, and gravel. At age 19, he's given the chance to attain the power of the Iron Fist!

In order to do this he must fight and defeat a dragon! Yeah, a DRAGON! Named, Shou-Lao The Undying! Shou-Lao guards molten heart that was taken from his own body. Figuring that the heart is the source of the dragon's power, Danny notices a scar on the dragon's chest and throws his body on it, severing the connection between the dragon and it's heart. He holds on until the dragon dies, and a dragon tattoo is seared onto his chest!

Now that the dragon is dead, Danny plunges his fists into the molten heart left behind and the power of Shou-Lao fuses with his body; the Immortal Iron Fist is born!

Just in case the first season of the show is based on his comic book origins, I won't reveal what happens after, but I'm sure you can imagine where the story goes. His actual powers, aside from the mastery of martial arts and the fists of iron are mostly related to his chi; the spirit energy that supposedly flows through all of us. Iron Fist has complete mastery over his chi and add that to the mystical power given to him by Shou-Lao, Iron Fist can focus all of his energy into his fists and/or an overall enhanced physical attack. He can also heal himself by focusing his chi, PLUS he can telepathically fuse with another person or creature's mind!

Iron Fist would go on to team up with Luke Cage as Heroes for Hire, and even sub in as DareDevil after Matt Murdock's secret identity was released to the public. He's been a member of The Defenders, The Thunderbolts, and The New Avengers at different points in his career.

From what I've read so far, the Netflix series doesn't go too into his backstory and may not even feature Shou-Lao or K'un L'un. Which is fine, if they can tell a good story without certain elements of his origins, it'll be ok. I'm with-holding judgement until I've seen the whole series. Early reviews haven't been good, but also seem to be coming from critics who have no idea of Iron Fist's actual comic origins and also have only seen 1 episode.

MARVEL'S IRON FIST premieres on Netflix just in time for St. Patrick's Day on Friday March, 17 2017! Have a great day, interweb-slingers, until next time!