Netflix’s Marvel series were hugely popular, and fans still mourn their mass cancellation even now. But the general consensus had it that Iron Fist was the weakest among them, with the martial arts-themed show often criticized—rightly or wrongly—for its uninvolving action scenes, poor scriptwork, and the performance of its leading man, Finn Jones, as billionaire Danny Rand.
One bright spot, though, was Jessica Henwick as Danny’s girlfriend, Colleen Wing.
In an illuminating chat with JAWCast podcast, Iron Fist stunt coordinator Brett Chan opened up about the difficult time he had working on the Marvel/Netflix series, in part due to the negative reception it received from viewers and the lack of care it was given by the studio. On top of that, Chan alluded to some problems with whipping the cast into shape. In particular, he recalls someone he refers to as “the actor”, most likely Jones, not wanting to train.
“Everyone’s fighting and the actor doesn’t want to train and… ‘Guys, throw me a bone. Give me something to work with here,'” Chan said.
He then went on to praise Jones’ co-star Henwick, saying Colleen’s action sequences were the “best” on the show because the actress would throw herself into the training, despite having no formal background in martial arts.
“That’s probably why the best sequences were with Jessica Henwick, because she trained four hours a day and she had zero martial arts experience.”
Despite Danny being the immortal Iron Fist, protector of K’un-Lun and sworn enemy of the Hand, fans often felt that Colleen was a much more formidable fighter and more resilient hero than her other half. In fact, in The Defenders crossover miniseries, she allies with the other heroes to free Danny when he’s kidnapped. Iron Fist season 2 even ended with Colleen having gained Danny’s chi powers, meaning she was the new Iron Fist. This would’ve either set up season 3 or the much-discussed Daughters of the Dragon spinoff, co-starring Simone Missick’s Misty Knight.
Marvel is believed to be in the process of rebooting Iron Fist, likely with a new Danny. This means that we’ve probably seen the last of Jessica Henwick in the MCU. Instead, the actress has managed to land herself a role in another major franchise—she’ll appear in this December’s The Matrix 4.
