Danny Rand Getting Picked On In 'The Defenders' Wasn't Because Of 'Iron Fist' Critical Reactions

Iron Fist had the challenging job of being a momentous lead-in towards The Defenders and it unfortunately, failed in that aspect. The outcome of the show was criticized by a majority of fans AND critics, something you don’t see every day in comic book adaptations given the increasing gap between fans and critics, resulting in an anemic lead-in for the much-anticipated team up. People were either turned off by the decision to depict Danny Rand as a pompous surfer dude spouting fortune cookie sayings or his overzealousness in letting people know that he was the Iron Fist, protector of K’un L’un, sworn enemy of the Hand. This worried fans going into The Defenders. So when the trailers for the show depicted the team making fun of Danny’s pompousness, it was a nice surprise. When asked by Entertainment Weekly about whether this was an intentional reaction to the negative criticism towards Iron Fist, The Defenders showrunner Marco Ramirez had this to say:

We were shooting the finale of The Defenders when Iron Fist season 1 was premiering, so by the nature of it, we couldn’t have reacted to it. Any interaction they have to Danny is all based on just the dynamics we wanted to build. It felt like, if somebody came in and said, “My fist glows with chi and I punched a dragon and turned into this,” there’s no way around the fact that Jessica Jones is going to say, “Bullsh–, you sound like a crazy person.” Even if the dragon were in the room with them, Jessica is going to be like, “I don’t believe that, what the f— are we talking about?”

So that’s the natural dynamic of what we wanted to build, because Matt and Luke and Jessica had already been introduced, and for comic-book shows, they’re all so grounded and so gritty, but like if a guy walks in to these rooms with a glowing fist saying, “My chi is expanding,” all of them will say “I don’t buy it.” That’s the natural thing for them to do.

Mild spoilers for the Defenders below.

They handled Danny very interestingly in the show. There are certain moments in the show that play into the fan perception of Iron Fist. Halfway in the season, the three heroes learn that Danny is what the Hand is after. An ensuing fight scene plays out as if the writers were reacting to the criticism via subtext. Nevertheless, we get how they approached the character dynamics. These characters all have their own tics and personalities with how they view the world around them. Matt knows whats up with Hell’s Kitchen and Stick’s war while Jessica and Luke are absolutely in the dark about it. If Luke had difficulty in believing that guy who could mind control existed, I don’t see how he could buy a dragon existing in the MCU. Aliens may have invaded New York but aliens and dragons are conceptually very different things.

Would you call Danny a crazy person if you knew him in real life? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Entertainment Weekly