At the Iron Fist panel at New York Comic Con today, besides the new trailer that was released, a ton of new scenes were debuted as well. Each was designed to spotlight a character or element of the series and gave a good overview of what to expect from the next Marvel/Netflix show – telling the story of billionaire Danny Rand (Finn Jones) returning to Manhattan years after he vanished as a child, now having a very notable skill set and history.
Filming on Iron Fist literally ended today - at 9am Saturday, the crew had wrapped up an all-night shoot. But there was still plenty of edited footage ready to show...
The first scene shown -- which either is the first of the series or certainly very early on -- found Danny walking on bare feet through Manhattan. He’s got ear buds in, listening to a very old iPod (we hear “Award Tour” by A Tribe Called Quest play throughout the sequence) and with his grimy clothes and bushy beard, he looks like a bum. He looks up at a tall skyscraper and tells a vendor selling peanuts, “That’s my building.” The guy looks at Danny with skepticism and says, “Sell it, buy some shoes."
Danny goes into the lobby and tells the receptionist he’s there to see Harold Meachum. He’s told that’s not possible and the woman clearly has no intention of letting Danny in, or believes his story, as he tells her, “I’m Daniel Rand, son of Wendell Rand. It’s been a long time.” He’s looking around the lobby, committing on how things have changed when security comes out and escorts him outside. He walks back in and they stop him again, trying to push him out more aggressively – which is when he fights back, effortlessly knocking them aside martial arts moves. More security guards come at him and he continues to block, disarm and subdue them all – at one point humorously holding down a guard with his hands, while he stretches his bare foot up behind him and pressing the elevator button with it.
The next scene showed Danny's childhood friends, siblings Joy (Jessica Stroup) and Ward Meachum (Tom Pelphrey) eating at a restaurant when Danny storms in (notably wearing a green t-shirt that is likely a nod to his comic book costume). He sits down next to Joy and tells Ward, “It’s hard, really, trying to get my head around this. You were like a brother to me. A terrible, jackass brother," and adds, “I know you sent that guy." Danny then asks Ward, "Do you hate me that much?”
Ward replies, “Yes, because the Danny Rand I know is dead and I want him to stay that way.” Joy joins in on it, telling Danny, “I’m not your sister, he’s not your brother. We don’t want you here.” Danny turns to go, but Joy, seemingly feeling some regret, tells him they can work things out. Which is when Danny tells them, “I have Hogarth now. You can’t deny what’s mine. What my father meant for me to have.”
(The audience cheered loudly at the reference to Jeri Hogarth – Carrie Anne Moss has previously been announced as appearing in Iron Fist).
Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb acknowledged the Marvel/Netflix love for a certain type of action scene introducing the “Iron Fist version of a hallway fight.”
In the scene, Danny is in his apartment when he hears Joy screaming his name. He runs out and sees a group of men trying to drag her into the elevator – and Danny runs at them unleashing his full fighting skills. The men all pull small, hatchet-like bladed weapons out (they were strapped to their arms under their sleeves) and we see a really fun and exciting fight scene – showing just how fluid and quick Danny is, with a lot of shots from above showing him whirling through the hallway battling his foes. One of the men throws his weapon at Danny, who dodges it, but they use the moment to pull Joy back into the closing elevator, as Danny leaps forward trying to stop it.
“What a dope character!” exclaimed Jessica Henswick (Game of Thrones, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) of her comic book derived martial arts expert. And based on the scene we were shown, Iron Fist audiences will quickly agree.
The scene involved Colleen in a classic TV and movie situation, the underground cage fight. Except she’s about to face two opponents - huge men who tower over her. Says one of them, “This little girl thinks she can fight me!”
The fight begins with the cage being locked, as we hear, "Tap out or knock out is the only way out of the cage.” Colleen, in a simple all-white outfit that evokes her comic book looks (though also with a hoodie, with the hood up) looks very determined… and indeed she is, as she comes out of the gate strong, getting in a nasty looking throat punch on one of her foes that had the audience wincing and cheering in unison.
Jessica Henswick as Colleen Wing in Marvel's Iron Fist.
Colleen fights quick and brutal, using a lot of elbows and multiple hits, ducking and dodging many of the blows (though some do get her). She finally subdues one of the men by wrapping her legs around his arm and giving it an ugly snap. Managing to stun the other guy, she has him against the cage and hits him over and over, as we see blood splatter the ground beneath them.
This sequence was a huge crowd-pleaser with a ton of cheering as it ended.
The final scene introduced Harold Meachum (David Wenham), the business partner of Danny’s father. The scene found Danny waking up tied to a gurney – and based on how he was acting (disoriented, out of it and speaking more freely than he otherwise might), it seems he’s probably been drugged.
Danny is surprised to see Harold – for what appears to be the first time since Danny returned to New York. Harold asks him, “Do you remember that song I used to sing? That would annoy the s**t out of you?” and then begins singing “Danny Boy.”
Danny tells Harold he thought he was dead and Harold tells him he thought the same about him, “So I guess that’s something we have in common.” Harold tells Danny he understands “you were taken in by some monks,” but he doesn’t know everything, including where this was.
Danny reveals it was K'un-Lun, and tells Harold he probably never should have left. Says Danny, "I was a warrior. Only in the middle of a fight did I fully come alive. The harder someone hit me the more everything came into focus.”
Harold presses him for more information and Danny tells him, “I became one in a long line of immortal Iron Fists. Living weapon. Sworn enemy of the Hand.” While Harold doesn't seem to know what the Hand is, he's curious, as Danny goes on to say, “It is my duty to destroy the Hand.” When Harold asks if he can truly do this, Danny replies, “I’m the only one that can do it.”
Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @TheEricGoldman, IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman.