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| Image Courtesy www.ign.com |
This is the
last aspect of Iron Fist that I really want to talk about, and it is the
one for which I’m the most torn. All of
the Marvel Netflix shows share characters and settings, both in the foreground
and the background. This really helps
them feel like they are all taking place in the same world, just a few blocks
apart. Considering that these series are
all building up to The Defenders crossover miniseries this summer, it is
important for them to already feel like they inhabit the same neighborhood—even
though there are tonal differences between them. It’s similar to what Marvel Studios did in Phase
1 by having Coulson, Tony, and/or Fury show up in all the movies at some point.
Unfortunately,
at a certain point the shared characters cease to be fun and start being
genuine plot holes. That is part of the
problem with Iron Fist.
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| Image Courtesy www.comicbook.com |
Claire Temple
Oh,
Claire. Where did your part in this
series go wrong? Both Luke Cage
and Iron Fist expand Claire’s role substantially: she is the love interest in Luke Cage,
and then she is a student at Colleen’s dojo in Iron Fist, which connects
her into all the action and gives Danny and Colleen a different perspective on
the Hand. Claire’s experience of having
been at Metro General when the Hand attacked them—and of having experienced
undead ninjas firsthand—gives her a reason for joining Danny and Colleen on
their trip to China.
Claire also
serves as the connective tissue bringing together all of the Defenders, having
met and helped all of them at one point or another. This is something the writers decided that
she needed to remind us about in every third episode or so: she knows a guy who’s been fighting the Hand
for a while who could help them.
So why don’t you invite the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen to the
party?????
In an
interview afterward, Rosario Dawson did explain that unfortunately Charlie Cox
was too busy filming another project (I think it was The Defenders
itself) to appear in Iron Fist.
However, the
fact that the actor couldn’t appear doesn’t excuse bringing up every chance you
get that Claire knows Daredevil. If she
even said, “I called my friend, but he’s too busy breaking up a human
trafficking ring to help us right now,” that would have been so much
better. As it stands, every single time
Claire opens her mouth to talk about her role as the connection between the
shows, it just drives home the point further:
Why isn’t Daredevil fighting the Hand alongside Iron Fist?
This is the
same issue that cropped up in the Phase 2 movies (all of which have a
reasonable explanation), but it appeared then because the heroes had already
teamed up. For the Defenders, it’s
appearing before they ever teamed up!
Perversely, it would not be an issue if Claire’s role were smaller or
she didn’t remind us of it at every opportunity.
I don’t
think the solution would have been to leave Claire out entirely. She needed to be there, and in the few scenes
where she was really important, she shined.
But I do think that they need to be more judicious in their use of her—and
all these connection characters—so these questions don’t show up.
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| Image Courtesy www.heroichollywood.com |
Jeri Hogarth
By contrast
to Claire, Hogarth’s role in Iron Fist is actually close to
perfect. In the comics, Jeryn Hogarth is
the attorney for Rand Enterprises; in the series, Jeri Hogarth was a legal
intern at Rand before Danny disappeared, and he goes to her for help in proving
who he is and restoring his good name. In
Jessica Jones, it seems pretty clear that Hogarth is a defense attorney,
so at first it’s a little odd that she would be taking on a corporate law
case. However, considering that she knew
Danny personally, it makes sense for him to go to her.
Really,
Hogarth’s role in Iron Fist is an example of a well-executed crossover
between the Netflix series.
Darryl
Darryl is a
bit more of an Easter egg in terms of shared continuity. He was a kid being arrested at the police
station in Luke Cage, but appears to have gotten his life turned around
in time for Iron Fist. However, before
discovering the Hand’s evil plans, Colleen sends Darryl off to Bakuto, who
declares him to be instrumental to the Hand’s future plans.
This is a
good example of what the shared universe can do for character development. Luke Cage established that Darryl is a
kid with a troubled past; Iron Fist establishes that his trust was taken
advantage of, positioning him to become a Hand pawn. Where will his story take
him next? It’s unclear for now, but he
could rise as high as to become the next disciple of Ch’i-Lin, or he could just
be “Faceless Hand Ninja #6.”
Conclusion
There are
some really good things that Iron Fist did in terms of connecting to the
other Marvel Netflix shows, but there are definite areas for improvement. I really think that Claire’s part in the
series needed to be different, and I actually think that The Defenders
will help with that particular issue.
What did you
think of Claire’s role in Iron Fist?
What do you think will happen to Darryl?
Let me know in the comments!
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