Iron Fist
Though he hails from New York City, the origins of Iron Fist actually occur on the more magical end of the Marvel spectrum. For him, there were no terrifying science experiments, or radioactive substances. Instead, Iron Fist – as created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane in 1974 – is the product of life in the alternate dimension city, K’un-L’un.
Iron Fist was born Daniel Rand, in New York City, to Heather Duncan and Wendell Rand. Wendell stumbled upon K’un-L’un as a child, and returned there with his wife and son when Daniel was nine years old. They were accompanied by Wendell’s business partner, Harold Meachum, but the family struggled on the journey – and Meachum’s actions led to the deaths of Daniel’s parents. Daniel was then raised by a martial arts expert of K’un-L’un, and attained the power of the Iron Fist.
The power of the Iron Fist allows Rand to concentrate his chi in his fist, giving him super strength and focus – though its use leaves him physically and mentally drained for a time. He is also a highly skilled martial artist, and possesses the ability of telepathy and mind fusion. With these skills, he returned to New York City as an adult to avenge his parents, and chose to become a superhero. This choice brought him together with Luke Cage, who developed such a close bond with him that he would eventually name the daughter he has with Jessica Jones, Danielle. Ongoing tension exists in his friendship with Cage, however, generally due to the wealth he accumulated by retrieving his parents’ business assets.
In addition to working with Luke Cage, Iron Fist allied himself with Captain America against the Superhero Registration Act, and assisted in concealing Matt Murdock’s secret identity by temporarily posing as The Man Without Fear. In his superhero guise, he has battled Sabretooth, Master Khan, Bushmaster and Junzo Muto, but actually showed mercy to Harold Meachum, who was responsible for the death of his parents.
Iron Fist has not yet been depicted in live action on either film or television, but an ill-fated feature film attempt in 2001 saw actor Ray Park (X-Men) cast in the role. In 2010, Marvel set screenwriter Rich Wilkes (xXx) the task of writing an Iron Fist feature film script. It is not yet known whether any of those screenplays will form the basis of the Iron Fist miniseries due to be filmed by Marvel and Netflix, and a casting announcement has yet to be made. Several names repeatedly rise to the top of the mix in fan discussion, however, and these include Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Cole Horibe (the Broadway play Kung Fu), and Harry Shum Jr. (Glee, and the upcoming Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend that will have a simultaneous theatrical and Netflix release in August). Ray Park also remains a fan favourite for the role.
