 |
| Image Courtesy en.wikipedia.org |
As you may have noticed
in the “Weekly MCU Review” for July 4, rumor has it
that Marvel has been having some trouble figuring out exactly how they want to
proceed with Iron Fist.
Specifically, they are not sure if they want to bring the mystical
elements of the Iron Fist Universe into the very grounded universe which they
established in Daredevil. And if
they do bring in those mystical elements, they are unsure as to how.
So, because I am an
internet writer (and we all know how knowledgeable those are!), I
thought I would help Marvel out with their little mysticism conundrum. Here are my thoughts on how Marvel should
bring the mystical elements into the Netflix corner of the MCU.
Why?
The first question to
ask is: “Should they even bring in the
mysticism?” And the way I see it, the
only possible answer is: “Absolutely;
otherwise he’s not really Iron Fist.”
Simply put, the thing
that distinguishes Danny Rand, aka “Iron Fist,” from other Marvel martial
artists like Daredevil and Shang-Chi (a highly-trained Chinese martial artist)
is his “Iron Fist” ability—his ability to concentrate his chi energy in his
fist and release it in a devastating attack.
Introducing a highly-trained martial artist is just fine—in fact, Daredevil
or Iron Fist might even be a good place to introduce Shang-Chi—but if
you’re just introducing a skilled martial artist without the Iron Fist skill-set,
there’s really no point in calling him “Iron Fist.”
What’s the Problem?
I think the issue that
Marvel is having is figuring out how to mesh the relatively grounded world of Daredevil
and Jessica Jones with the relatively not-grounded world of Iron Fist. In Daredevil, Matt receives his
abilities from chemicals which were spilled on his face. The chemicals took away his vision, but they
heightened all of his other senses.
However, that is the extent of his superpowers; all of his other
abilities come from training.
The same holds
(mostly) true in the case of Jessica Jones.
Though we do not know the origin story and abilities they are going to use in the
series, the comic book origin story involves a major car accident in which
Jessica’s family is killed and she is left in a coma after being covered in a
(different) chemical. The accident gave
her super strength, flight, and invulnerability, but only to a limited extent. Assuming that it is similar in the Netflix
series, she will be substantially more powerful than Daredevil, but there will
still be a degree of consistency between them:
Science created her.
This is even more the
case with Luke Cage, whose origin story is actually tied to that of Captain
America in the comics. He receives his
powers after volunteering for an experiment in prison trying to recreate the Super
Soldier Serum (why you would ask for convicts for something like that is
beyond me…). The experiment goes wrong
(of course), but that actually causes it to succeed in giving him super
strength and unbreakable skin. As with
the other two, science is primarily responsible for his superpowers.
This does not hold
true in the case of Iron Fist, whose powers come from defeating a mystical
dragon and dipping his fists into its molten heart. This is the most “out-there” origin story of
the four. Is there a way to mesh this
with the grounded realism of the other three characters?
The Importance to
the MCU
 |
| Image Courtesy en.wikipedia.org |
This question does not
just affect Marvel Netflix; you might say that the entire future of the MCU
rests on this question: Is there a way
to mesh such disparate concepts as technologically-driven superpowers and
mystically-given superpowers? If there
isn’t, then Doctor Strange is not going to fit in with characters like
Iron Man, Captain America, and Vision; he’s just too… strange. This would also put major limits on Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the network TV side of the MCU: characters like Druid just can’t appear in
the Secret Warriors.
And yet, the beauty of
the Avengers—and the Marvel Universe in general—is that it brings together
disparate characters like Thor, Iron Man, and Doctor Strange. Even though these characters’ abilities
should not be compatible, they somehow work in stories together. If the MCU does not allow a mystical character
like Iron Fist to stand alongside more “grounded” characters like Luke Cage,
what does that say for the future of the Avengers?
In fact, we’ve already
seen this bringing together of disparate concepts taking place with the
Earth-based and cosmic realms. Thor was
the first example: an alien who came to
Earth to learn humility and returned to fight alongside the Earth-bound
heroes. We’ve seen it even more on Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D. Lady Sif has fought
alongside regular human S.H.I.E.L.D. agents without any superheroes
around. Regular humans faced and
defeated Lorelei (with help from Sif).
Going even more cosmic, the S.H.I.E.L.D. team met a Kree scientist in
season 2. They have found ways to make
these two disparate concepts work in concert with each other in such a way that
they make sense in the same universe. I
think Marvel can do the same with magic and mysticism.
Hints We’ve Already
Seen
We need to remember
that Iron Fist will not be the first character or series to make use of
mystic powers.
Daredevil made
use of mysticism—along with hints at Iron Fist—though mysticism was not very
central to the season. The biggest
example is meditative healing. Stick
told Matt that he would teach him a technique by which he could heal injuries
through meditation. Later on Matt told
Claire that he had learned the technique, which allowed him to keep doing what
he was doing. We even saw it in action near
the end of season 1 as Matt meditated to heal the injuries he had received in
the fight against Nobu and Fisk.
We have also seen
potential hints at the Iron Fist universe in the character of Madame Gao. Her heroin bears the symbol of the Steel
Serpent—the champion of one of the heavenly cities and one of Iron Fist’s
villains. Gao herself used a technique
against Matt which bore a striking resemblance to the Iron Fist: she struck Matt with the heel of her hand
with sufficient force to send him tumbling across the room. Add to all of that her cryptic statement to
Owlsely that she was “returning home” to somewhere “a good deal farther away”
than China, and the evidence starts to pile up.
She is very likely the leader of one of the heavenly cities, and closely
connected to Iron Fist.
Based on these
examples, Marvel Netflix has already laid some groundwork on which to expand
the concept of mysticism with Iron Fist.
 |
| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
How to Bring in
Mysticism
All of that being
said, I do agree with the rumor in that Marvel needs to tread carefully in
introducing mysticism into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. This means expanding on what they have
already shown before they start going further with a heavily-mystic character
like Iron Fist.
This can start with Agents
of S.H.I.E.L.D. introducing a character or two who make use of mystical
methods for gaining superpowers. As the
S.H.I.E.L.D. team attempts to understand how their powers work, the viewer learns
more about it as well. The character
could even become a member of the Secret Warriors so we see them in action on a
semi-regular basis.
A second option
(perhaps preferable) is to make use of the medium which is already playing with
mystic elements: Daredevil. As mentioned above, Matt uses meditative
healing, and has already encountered one potential Iron Fist
character. We don’t know what season 2
holds—apart from Daredevil vs. Punisher—but there may be room for an
episode or two dedicated to furthering Madame Gao’s plot, perhaps tying it in
with Stick’s war. Both of these
plotlines could conceivably involve mystical elements. Madame Gao likely comes from a heavenly city,
and whatever her plans are in New York, it is likely that mysticism will play a
part. Likewise, we’ve already learned of
one mystical aspect of Stick’s martial arts—meditative healing—so we could
learn about more in season 2. In fact,
if Madame Gao returns for Daredevil season 2, that might also be a good
time for Iron Fist to make his debut.
You don’t really need
to do a lot in either of these series to build up the mystical aspects of the
Marvel mythos. All that is really
necessary is a few more hints—perhaps a little more overt than the previous ones.
Iron Fist’s
Mysticism
So, now Marvel TV has
sown some more mystic seeds. Now
what? How do we proceed in Iron Fist?
The first season will
follow Danny Rand’s first weeks in Hell’s Kitchen. At the beginning of the season we know
nothing about him except that he is new to the city and came from somewhere far
away. However, over the course of the
season we discover that he came from K’un-L’un and either was sent away because
the elders of the city foresaw that he would be needed in the outside world or
chose to leave an find the man responsible for his parents’ deaths. The challenge with this setup would be
distinguishing this series from Daredevil season 1, but that would be
entirely possible.
The first several
episodes of Iron Fist will not involve any mystical elements beyond
those that have already been introduced—specifically meditative healing. However, Iron Fist will make use of these abilities—and
meditation in general—substantially more frequently than Daredevil does. Over time, Iron Fist will begin to reveal
more of his mystic abilities, but not the “Iron Fist”—he wants to retain a
degree of anonymity. However, around the
eighth or ninth episode, one of Iron Fist’s opponents will use an ability
similar to the “Iron Fist” against him, and in their next battle Iron Fist will
respond in kind with the “Iron Fist.”
Finally in the last third of the season, Iron Fist will break out all of
his mystical abilities in a massive fight against hordes of ninjas. Simultaneously, we will learn about the
heavenly cities and their connection to both Iron Fist and Madame Gao. However, a full exploration of K’un-L’un will
not come until Iron Fist season 2 (or a Heroes for Hire follow-up
series).
I think that a slow
reveal would allow the series to walk the fine line between not throwing too
much at us all at once and remaining faithful to the mystical aspects of the
comics. Additionally, this would allow
Danny Rand to already be the Iron Fist and have some degree of proficiency with
his abilities. The other option, of
course, is for this to be a straight-up origin story with his family searching
for K’un-L’un, his parents being killed, him being taken in and trained, and
culminating with his defeat of the dragon Shou-Lao and subsequent rise to
become the Iron Fist. Following this
victory he could choose to leave the city and journey through our world for a
time before returning to K’un-L’un. This
would set up for his first meeting with the Defenders to take place in the
mini-series.
Conclusion
Whatever way Marvel
chooses to introduce Iron Fist, I think they need to leave the mystical
elements of his origin and powers intact.
And in fact, it is entirely possible for them to do so and have him work
within the universe they have established.
They have already laid some of the groundwork for mysticism—and they
have numerous opportunities before his debut to further that groundwork. If they introduce his powers slowly, as they
did with Daredevil in season 1, then they can easily take us from
accepting meditation-based healing to accepting the ability to concentrate
one’s chi in a fist by the end of the season.
And this can absolutely work alongside heroes like Jessica Jones, Luke
Cage, and especially Daredevil.
This is the third or
fourth time I’ve written an article responding to a rumor. Would you like to see me make “Rumor Has It”
a (semi) regular feature here? I
wouldn’t do it every week, but whenever there’s a particularly interesting or
confusing rumor, I would write something responding to it. Let me know in the comments if you want to
see this continue.
How do you think Marvel should proceed with Iron Fist? Do you want to see them go all-out with the mysticism from the get-go? Do you want them to avoid the mysticism all together and keep his powers more in line with Daredevil? Let me know in the comments!
If you want to get an email
whenever I publish a new article, go to the top of the page and enter your email
address in the box labeled “Subscribe to Mostly MCU Reviews” and click
“Submit.”
No comments:
Post a Comment