Marvel May Be Having Trouble With Iron Fist

Now that Daredevil has proven to be a complete success, Marvel and Netflix are diving headfirst into their ambitious mutli-series plan to unite the Man Without Fear with fellow superheroes Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist for a team-up event series dubbed The Defenders. 

Already we’ve heard plenty of casting and production updates for Daredevil‘s second season (which arrives next Spring) and Jessica Jones, which is currently filming and debuts in the fall. Luke Cage will follow suit after showing up for a recurring guest star stint on Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist’s series will presumably follow. But, according to a new report, Marvel may be struggling to fit that final puzzle piece into place.

According to Birth Movies Death’s Devin Faraci, Marvel is having a hard time at nailing down the story for Iron Fist, despite bringing in multiple writers to pitch their ideas. That’s why we haven’t heard much about the series yet, and why Marvel has yet to cast the role of Danny Rand, the titular chi-honing superhero.

Part of the problem Marvel is facing is bringing Iron Fist‘s mysticism into the hyper-realistic world created for Daredevil. Sure, there were some Daredevil story threads that alluded to the complicated mystical history of the Iron Fist character, but Faraci states that those were simply added as fun Easter eggs for fans, and were not the foundation of some meticulous plan.

Anyone familiar with the Iron Fist source material knows how complicated the character can be to adapt; he trained in a hidden city called K’un Lun that appears on Earth once every ten years, and has the power to summon and focus his chi, giving him healing powers and enhanced strength. It’s certainly not too weird for fans to grasp (they accepted Groot with open arms, after all), but when coupled with Daredevil‘s grit, how weird is Marvel allowed to get?

For now, that remains a mystery, and with three other shows currently in active production (Luke Cage is reportedly nearing the end of the writing process), it could be some time before we hear about the studio’s plans for the character, or who might get the chance to play him.

As always, we’ll keep you updated as those Iron Fist details become available.