10 Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed In Marvel’s Iron Fist

Marvel's latest Netflix show, Iron Fist is now here and acts as the final outing in the run-up to the much-anticipated Defenders miniseries. So, how does it measure up to the rest of the lot? Well, sadly, it hasn't been met with the same warmth - from critics, at least, as fans seem to love it all the same. What Iron Fist does have in common with the other Netflix shows though is an abundance of easter eggs and references. Ever since Daredevil slipped in callbacks to Captain America and Thor, the Netflix series like to remind us every now and then that they're part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. More than that, they also slot in nods to the characters' rich history from the comic books. Over the following pages, we've picked out 10 easily-missed easter eggs and references from Iron Fist's debut season that you need to know about. We'll try to avoid any major spoilers, but if you haven't seen the show yet, you may want to bookmark this page and come back later. If you've already binged it, though, read on! 10) K'un-L'un We don't get to see a whole lot of K'un-L'un over the course of Iron Fist - only glimpsing it briefly during flashbacks - but several references to its origins and its people are slotted in in its place. For instance, the show surprisingly comes straight out with the crazy comic book-y fact that it's one of the seven cities of Heaven. Most notably, however, is that Danny receives several visions from his mentor while facing Madame Gao's challenges in episode 6. This is Lei-Kung the Thunderer; an immortal martial arts master who's charged with training up the greatest warriors of each generation in K'un-L'un. He's also the father of Davos, the Steel Serpent (more on him later), though this is not made clear in the show. Danny also makes a reference to "the August Personage in Jade." This is the ceremonial title of Yu-Ti, the ruler of K'un-L'un. This is usually Nu-An in the comics, but Danny makes a reference to another Yu-Ti at one point - Lord Tuan. 9) New York Bulletin The resident newspaper of the Netflix arm of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the New York Bulletin. Though it primarily features in Daredevil - as the workplace of Ben Urich and later Karen Page - the paper is referenced in Iron Fist, too. Most notably, Ward Meachum is interviewed by a reporter for the paper, Jennifer Manning, in episode 4. On the way out of the interview, Manning calls up her editor - presumably Mitchell Ellison - and tells him "don't give the front page to Karen." This is obviously a reference to the previously mentioned Ms. Page. Later on, Karen gets another namecheck when Danny announces that he's told her and the Bulletin the story about him closing the Staten Island power plant. Another returning journalist who appears in Iron Fist is Thembi Wallace of WJBP-TV, who previously gave Mariah Dillard a tough live interview in Luke Cage. Here, she appears in episode 4 to report the news about Danny Rand. 8) Shou-Lao The Undying Danny Rand has perhaps the coolest origin story of any superhero, ever. To assume the mantle of K'un-L'un's protector, the Iron Fist, he had to defeat the immortal dragon Shou-Lao the Undying in a fierce fight. Beat that, Batman! Shou-Lao's referenced a couple of times in the first half of Iron Fist. At first, he's namechecked when Danny's incarcerated at Birch Psychiatric Hospital. He's also later clarified to be a dragon when Danny speaks to Ward in episode 5. While it would be amazing to see the beast on screen, Finn Jones has already admitted that we won't get Shou-Lao in the TV show, as Iron Fist simply doesn't have a Game of Thrones-sized budget. “I’d love to have the budget for these shows to have a full-on Game of Thrones style dragon. But unfortunately you know, we have budget restraints. That’s the nature of the show," said Jones. 7) The Crane Mother And The Hand In episode 2, when Danny's recounting how he came to K'un-L'un, he mentions that the monks that found him were part of the Order of the Crane Mother. The leader of one of the other seven cities of Heaven, namely K'un-Zi, the Crane Mother is one of Iron Fist's most dangerous foes in the comics. Marvel fans have long-theorized that Madame Gao is really the Crane Mother. While this is not confirmed in Iron Fist, the revelation could be coming in The Defenders or maybe even season 2 of this show. It's also revealed that Gao is the leader of a faction of the Hand. The real leader of the New York branch of the Hand turns out to be Bakuto, Colleen's old sensei. Though he isn't usually connected to Colleen, the character's the leader of the Hand in the comics, originating in 2010's Daredevil #505. Gao's faction also have "the sworn protector of the Hand" on their side - Zhou Cheng, the drunken guard Danny fights in episode 8. In the comics, however, Zhou Cheng is a completely different character. Possessed by the beast Ch'i-Lin, Cheng is destined to kill the Iron Fist before his 33rd birthday. Ch'i-Lin is referenced in the show as well, though Cheng refers to him as his master. 6) The Ringmaster In episode 3, Colleen starts participating in cage fights, and the announcer of these fights is listed as Ringmaster in the credits. We could be overthinking it, but this might be a nod to little-known Spider-Man villain the Ringmaster. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character was the leader of The Circus of Crime. The only connection with the guy in Iron Fist though is that they both have colourful fashion senses. Also, one of Colleen's sparring partners is a thug named Jimmy Pierce. This has to be a nod to the character of the same name in the comics. He began as a low-level criminal and graduated into a new version of The Punisher, once Frank Castle was assumed to be dead. Staying with Spider-Man comics, Danny Rand's fake passport bears the name John Anderson. As the name is a fairly common one, this could just be a coincidence, but we would be failing in our duty if we didn't direct you to the comic book character John Anderson. This one was Peter Parker's neighbour from New Zealand and appeared in 2003's The Spectacular Spider-Man series. He definitely wasn't Iron Fist in disguise, though. 5) Monsters Unleashed! When Danny gets his dad's old office in episode 4, one of the first things he does is jump under the desk to inspect the monster stickers he put there as a child. Eagle-eyed old-school Marvel fans will notice that the stickers depict monsters created by comic book legend Jack Kirby. It's tough to make them all out, but we can definitely see Mangog (above Danny's thumb), Orrgo (with the large yellow eyes), Vandoom's Monster (by Danny's fingers) and Xemnu the Titan (to the right of the dragon). We may not ever get to see Marvel's monsters brought to life on screen with impeccable CGI, but at least the studio got them into the MCU in some form. 4) The Immortal Weapons In episode 6, Iron Fist faces two challenges in order to save Radovan's daughter, Sabina, from the Hand, and the characters we see here are ripped straight from the comics. Specifically, they're two of the Immortal Weapons, though they're not named as such in the show. The Immortal Weapons are the champions of the seven cities of Heaven, of which K'un-L'un and K'un-Zi belong to. The two that we meet in Iron Fist are the Bride of the Nine Spiders and Dog Brother. The character's mystical connections are sidelined, but there is enough to suggest it's them. Dog Brother, for instance, is a prankster assassin in the comics, while the TV show version makes what Danny calls "childish insults." Bride of the Nine Spiders, on the other hand, wears an outfit that's a near perfect match to that worn by the comics character. She even has a spider tattoo on her back. 3) Daughter Of The Dragon Colleen Wing pretty much steals Iron Fist away from its title star, and one of the best things about her is that she's surrounded by nods to her comics counterpart. In particular, her "stage name" during the cage fights is Daughter of the Dragon. Daughters of the Dragon is the name of the private detective agency that Colleen runs with her best friend Misty Knight in the comics. Of course, we previously met Misty in Luke Cage. Interestingly, Colleen sparks up a similar partnership with Claire Temple here as she does with Misty in the source material. Also in the cage fights, Colleen wears a white jump suit with some symbols on her shoulder blades. This is a perfect replication of the character's outfit from the comics. The only major thing that's different from the comic is that, on the page, Colleen can focus her chi to increase her strength, much like Danny can. 2) The Incident One of the most fan-pleasing easter eggs in Iron Fist is its callback to 'The Incident' - the in-universe name for the Battle of New York at the end of The Avengers. It's been namechecked at least once in every Marvel Netflix series. In this show, it comes when Dr. Paul Edmonds admits that Danny's story of the Iron Fist could be real: "I do know that ever since the Incident, I'm seeing a lot more people who honestly believe they have superpowers." The line could actually be a double-easter egg, too. On the one hand, the doctor could just be saying that the rise of superheroes has caused those suffering from delusions to latch onto the concept, or he might be alluding to the Inhumans. Over on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., many are developing superpowers due to the Terrigen Mists. Interestingly, Iron Fist's showrunner Scott Buck is also helming the upcoming Inhumans TV show. Speaking of the Incident, one of the Avengers is referenced in episode 6 as well. Rand Enterprises' crisis advisers mentions that Danny's apology video has more hits on YouTube than "that incredible green guy." This continues the aversion to saying the Hulk's name in the Netflix shows, after Jessica Jones and Luke Cage referred to him as "the green dude." Still, at least they got "incredible" in this time. 1) Daredevil And The Defenders That's not it for Marvel in-jokes, however, as each of Iron Fist's fellow Defenders is nodded to in some sly way. At the end of episode 3, Danny scales the side of the skyscraper Harold Meachum is living in. Later on, Ward refers to Danny acting like "Daredevil." This is obviously a reference to the other acrobatic hero on Netflix. Matt Murdock's alter ego is also referenced in episode 9 by Gao, and she also speaks of "the man with unbreakable skin." This is, of course, Luke Cage, who's mentioned in episode 8, too, when Danny talks about Claire reading a letter from someone she says is "currently unavailable," referring to Luke being sent to Seagate Prison at the end of Luke Cage. Later on, Danny borrows a bullet-pocked shirt from Claire, which she says belonged to a friend. The best, and most easily-missed, Defenders reference though comes in episode 9, when Joy reveals that she has hired a private investigator to spy on the Rand Enterprises board members. "She was worth every penny," Joy says. "When she was sober..." That's definitely our Jessica! Tell us, which nods and easter eggs did you manage to catch in Iron Fist? Let us know by dropping a comment below!