8 Reasons Why Iron Fist Isn’t As Bad As The Critics Say

The long-awaited first season of Iron Fist has now landed on Netflix and, unlike Danny Rand's hand, its critical response has not been glowing. In contrast to just about every other property in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Fist has received some pretty scathing reviews, which have pulled apart its writing, acting and directing. Is the show actually as bad as critics are saying, though? Obviously, it's all subjective, but the series definitely seems to be one that is - as the show's star Finn Jones put it - "made for the fans" rather than those reviewing it. Social media has been inundated with positive responses from Marvel lovers, saying they adored it just as much as the likes of Daredevil, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. As for us here at We Got This Covered, the truth is probably somewhere in between. Iron Fist is certainly the weakest of the four Marvel Netflix series so far, but it's still better than many other superhero TV shows out there and is well worth a watch. So, without further ado, and with minimal spoilers, here are 8 reasons why Iron Fist is not as bad as you've been hearing. 8) It Improves The Hand Let's be honest, the Hand are pretty underwhelming villains. The evil clan of ninjas might be the overarching foe of the Netflix corner of the MCU - they've been knocking around since it all began in Daredevil season 1 - but they come across as a nebulous, one-note threat at best, and an offensive, outdated one at worst. While they still don't soar in Iron Fist, the show definitely goes a long way to improving on their first major role in Daredevil season 2. In place of the forgettable Nobu, the Hand is given two much more interesting leaders. Firstly, returning character Madame Gao is revealed to run her own breakaway faction of the organization. The fact that she's too evil for the rest of this ancient evil brotherhood definitely helps her feel like a more formidable foe. Secondly, the other Hand leader we meet is Bakuto, Unlike Gao, he charms and manipulates others into doing his bidding. For instance, coaxing kids off the street by promising them a family and somewhere to belong. He's also tied in with Colleen's backstory, as he was her treacherous sensei, which gives the Hand's villainy a personal edge. Neither of them rival Kilgrave or Fisk as fascinating antagonists, but Iron Fist is certainly better than Daredevil in this regard. 7) There Are Some Impressive Action Sequences One thing that the Marvel Netflix shows have reliably excelled at is their action scenes. The corridor fight from Daredevil season 1's fourth episode was instantly iconic, and has since been followed up by several other awesome fight sequences. Iron Fist, then, was expected to be the best yet, seeing as it starred a man raised to be a martial arts expert all his life. So far, however, many have criticized the series for delivering underwhelming action. This is probably mostly due to the bar being set so high in previous shows, as the action in Iron Fist is perfectly acceptable. In fact, it's probably better than any other superhero show outside of the Marvel Netflix series. The sequences can look over-staged or have choreography problems, but there are still some standout examples in there. Colleen's first cage fight, for instance, is the character's greatest moment and there's a tense battle during a storm in Central Park between Danny, Colleen, Davos and Bakuto in episode 12. Sure, they're not as good as can be, but you can't say that the show totally fails in that area. 6) The Nods And Connections To The MCU Something about the Marvel Netflix shows that you can't help but love are the many nods to the wider world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We're not going to get Robert Downey Jr. turning up in these things, but the easter eggs are enough to remind us that they're set in the same continuity. Iron Fist is likewise great at this, with sneaky references to "the incredible green guy" and several callbacks to "The Incident" - the in-universe term for the Battle of New York seen in The Avengers. More notably, the show is particularly strong at dropping in connections to its fellow Netflix series, even giving us hints as to what the other Defenders are currently getting up to. For instance, it's alluded that Luke Cage is writing letters to Claire from inside Seagate Prison and Jessica Jones is still taking on sleazy cases and drinking hard after the death of Kilgrave. Daredevil is also name checked a couple of times. 5) The Returning Character Cameos One criticism that's frequently been levelled at Iron Fist is that it has a weaker cast of characters than the three previous Marvel Netflix series. While it's tough to argue that the likes of Ward and Joy Meachum are particularly awesome, one area about the show that hasn't been praised enough is that it finds roles for a couple of great characters from other shows. Obviously, there's the previously mentioned Madame Gao. She was always an intriguing presence on Daredevil and she only becomes more so in Iron Fist. Despite her advanced years, Gao is probably the most chilling and powerful villain on any of the four series. She definitely runs rings around the show's original villain, Harold Meachum. On the good side, Iron Fist also brings in Carrie Anne-Moss' Jeri Hogarth and Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple. Hogarth has a fairly limited role, but it's enough to show us that the character has significantly changed from her traumatic experiences in Jessica Jones, as her ruthless edges have been mostly sawn off. Likewise, Claire Temple continues her reliable role as moral and medical support for New York's finest. She also develops a nice sideline in comic relief with this show, often dropping in a dryly funny line to ease the drama. 4) The Most Fascinating Mythology Yet Whatever the failings in execution, Iron Fist is by far the most ambitious of the Marvel Netflix shows. While Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage are all fairly grounded, streetwise heroes, Danny Rand is a mystical warrior who fights dragons and hails from one of the seven cities of Heaven. Sadly, the show struggles with handling that extensive mythos on its relatively small budget. Shou-Lao the dragon, for instance, is reduced to just a pair of threatening red eyes in a cave. While it's hard to say that its commitment to skirting what we really want to see isn't annoying, the show still has access to the one of the best Marvel mythologies that has previously not been touched in any live-action adaptation. Danny's powers and origin story are slowly drip-fed over the series which, while it might be frustrating to some, makes it so much cooler when the elements finally fall into place - like his first use of the Iron Fist and the reveal of his dragon tattoo. Let's hope the show embraces its mythos more overtly in season 2. 3) Colleen Wing Is Awesome If there's one thing that most people can agree about Iron Fist, it's that Colleen Wing is the star of the show. The Marvel Netflix series have always been stronger than the MCU movies in the area of tough female characters, and Iron Fist continues this trend with aplomb. As we've said before, Colleen provides some of the best action in the whole show. It has to be said that Jessica Henwick feels the part of a master martial artist a lot more so than Finn Jones (though we will get to him in a moment). She repeatedly impresses us with her karate skills, as she takes down men twice her size in cage fights and wins the respect of the students at her dojo. On the other hand, her romance with Danny has been criticized in some quarters for feeling shoe-horned in. Your opinion on that will depend on your personal proclivity for superhero love stories, but we would say that Danny and Colleen's relationship doesn't feel any more forced than, say, Luke and Claire's in Luke Cage. 2) Finn Jones Is A Perfectly Solid Lead You have to feel sorry for Finn Jones. Ever since it was announced that he was to play Danny Rand in Iron Fist, the internet has been ablaze with people crying out that the character should have been reimagined as an Asian-American. Whatever the actor did in the role, it would always be overshadowed by that debate. As it is, a lot of critics weren't pleased with Jones' acting anyway, calling him out for making the character seem childish or stupid or poorly conveying the sense of control that a kung fu expert would have. Well, in most cases, the fault doesn't lie with Jones. He can only act what's on the page and the character is written to be at times petulant, naive and emotionally-unstable. If you ask us, Finn Jones is a perfectly satisfactory lead. Does he have the range of Charlie Cox or Krysten Ritter? Not here he doesn't, but to be fair, the series doesn't call for him to go to the ultra-dark places that those heroes had to. Perhaps once he's paired with the rest of the Defenders in the upcoming miniseries, he'll come out of it in a better light. 1) It Had A High Bar To Reach Perhaps the real reason that critics have been so hard on Iron Fist is because the Marvel Netflix shows that have come before it have been so strong. Daredevil, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones aren't quite perfect series, but they are some of the smartest, most thrilling, well-written comic book TV shows ever. Compared to them, Iron Fist might fall a little short, but compared to the rest of the long history of superheroes on television, it's still pretty high up. In fact, many of the flaws that Iron Fist is being lambasted for - a slow start, the series running out of steam by the end, forced romances and conflicts - can all be accused at the others shows as well. The format of these efforts could easily be trimmed down to ten episodes, for sure. However, the important aspects of Iron Fist are not grabbing people as much as its predecessors, which means that critics are honing in on issues that it only inherited and didn't create. If you've for some reason avoided Iron Fist due to the negative reviews (you human sheep, you), we'd recommend that you give it a go and judge it on your own terms. As we've made plain, the show might not be the next Daredevil, but just because it doesn't match that high watermark of quality doesn't mean it's a complete write-off.