Ranking The Main Characters Of Marvel’s Iron Fist

Marvel's Iron Fist has long been anticipated by fans of the House of Ideas' Netflix output. As the promotional material for the show has made clear, Danny Rand is the final Defender we have to meet before The Defenders mini-series - which unites Rand with fellow streetwise superheroes Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage - arrives this summer. Sadly, however, the hype might have been too much for the show, as it's been met with a pretty scathing critical reception. Obviously, other important areas like the strength of the narrative, action sequences and themes should be considered, too, but a big reason for Iron Fist's weaker reviews might be its cast of characters. Whatever your personal opinion towards the series may be, it's hard to argue that it has probably the weakest central characters of any of the four shows. There are a couple of welcome returning faces, and one new standout, but overall, these guys lack a bit of charisma. So, let's go through the main players of Iron Fist (at least those that show up in the first six episodes - we'll update this post once we've completed the season) and rank them from worst to best. Spoilers will follow, so if you haven't made it through the first six outings yet, bookmark this page and come back later. 8) Ward Meachum One of the drawbacks of Iron Fist is the emphasis on the corporate struggles of the Meachum siblings, as they occupy the murky moral ground of being profit-driven businessmen. Their subplot might be more palatable if the Meachums were actually interesting to watch, but they're unfortunately not. We'll get onto Joy in a moment, but first let's take a look at Ward. On a positive note, we can say that Tom Pelphrey is hugely irritating as Ward Meachum, which means that he's doing his job very well as the character is clearly intended to be that way. However, that doesn't mean we enjoy watching him. In the first few episodes, he's presented as almost cartoonishly evil - ruining a Monopoly game as a kid and ordering his thugs around to kill Danny as an adult. Later on, some shade is added to him as it's revealed that he's completely under the thumb of his father Harold, and is actually uncomfortable with what he does, leading him to develop a drug problem. Still, it's hard to feel much for the guy. 7) Joy Meachum A slightly more tolerable character than Ward is his younger sister, Joy Meachum. From the off, it's clear that she's a better person than Ward. Even though she goes through with his amoral business dealings, at least she has a moral quandary about it. On the other hand, she's also presented as being a shrewder businessperson, as she's able to clinch deals that Ward is unable to. This dichotomy between her natural business acumen and her conscience offers a decently fleshed-out character. Danny's arrival awakens her feelings of guilt for who she has become, and the moments where she opens up to Danny about the tragedy she's suffered in her life help rise her above the stereotypical spoiled brat that is her brother. Not to mention the fact that said brother is keeping the secret that their father is actually alive from her, which further helps her to be more sympathetic. However, her place as the third wheel in Danny and Colleen's growing romance - there isn't much active passion between the pair, but they were basically set for an arranged marriage as kids - is just a pain, as there can't be anyone out there who's hoping these two characters get together. 6) Jeri Hogarth Let's be clear: Carrie-Anne Moss is awesome, and Jeri Hogarth can be an interesting character, too. However, the lawyer only makes a fairly small contribution to Iron Fist (or at least, it's first six episodes), which means she can't be placed any higher up this list. Even if she is Trinity from The Matrix. Fulfilling the (originally male) character's role in the comics, Hogarth acts as the Rand family attorney and, as such, her function in the narrative is wholly to get Danny back his company. After that's done - and not really due to her actions, rather the will of Harold Meachum - she disappears. Still, we do find out there's been a change in the character since the events of Jessica Jones. In that series, she was a far more ruthless woman, using the mind-controlling Kilgrave for her own ends. Seeing as that resulted in tragedy, however, it seems she's now a slightly less prickly, more principled character. 5) Harold Meachum So far, we haven't been that impressed with the Meachums. The head of the family, Harold Meachum, is a much more interesting character, though, due to his dual role as manipulator and victim. As becomes clear over the first six episodes, Harold Meachum died, slowly and terribly, from cancer ten years ago. However, he was brought back to life by the evil ninja clan the Hand (they can resurrect people, just accept it), as they needed him to get their hands on Rand Enterprises. We initially see Harold as the master villain, using his son Ward as his pawn for his twisted business strategies while he hides away in a deluxe penthouse. But the waters are muddied when it turns out he's a victim of the Hand - they might have granted him his life back, but it's not truly his own. His traumatic past helps to keep him from being a cardboard villain and, touchingly, he just wants to be able to see his daughter again (who we're pretty certain is his favourite child). On the other hand, his manipulation of Danny, who still sees him as a surrogate father, keeps him as a fairly interesting antagonist. 4) Madame Gao Harold Meachum might be pulling the strings of Rand Enterprises, but pulling his strings is Madame Gao. The little elderly Asian woman might not look dangerous, but Gao represents an ancient and insidious evil. Gao never does much except turn up for a short while to threaten people, but the implicit power of the character is what makes her so chilling. Wai Ching Ho does such a terrific job at playing a sort of understated malevolence that it makes it all the more dramatic when Gao gets the chance to lash out (such as murdering a thug who failed to stop Iron Fist in episode five). Interestingly, she seems to have taken charge of the Hand since we last saw her, which is a good move on the writers' part to ensure the evil ninjas are more interesting this time around. Gao makes a much better leader of the Hand then the dull Nobu from Daredevil did, at the very least. Gao has been knocking around Marvel's Netflixverse since Daredevil season 1, so it's good to see her finally stepping into centre stage. The inter-connectivity between these series is one of their great strengths, and this villain represents that in a big way. 3) Claire Temple Gao isn't the only character tying the different Marvel Netflix shows together. Claire Temple is the unofficial Nick Fury of the Defenders; having befriended Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage in previous series, she's present and correct in Iron Fist to get to know Danny Rand, too. Again, Claire doesn't get too much to do, but Rosario Dawson is a talented enough actress to make the most of what she gets. Iron Fist is a usually dry show, and Claire hasn't previously been used for bringing the funny, but her arrival in episode 5 comes with some welcome laughs. The character's completely unsubtle barging in on Danny and Colleen's date is chucklesome, as is her later reaction at finding out that she's bumped into yet another superhero: "My mother says I can't escape meeting people like you." Of course, Claire's own superpower - using Macgyver-like methods to save people's lives during ad hoc surgery - is all present and correct in Iron Fist, as well. Here, she miraculously uses a credit card to stop a man's lung from collapsing. Could she go and become Night Nurse already, please? 2) Danny Rand If you've read the early reviews for Iron Fist, you've probably heard that Danny Rand is by far the weakest character of the four Defenders. Do we agree with that? Well, yes, we sadly do. Danny doesn't have the grit of Daredevil, the power of Luke Cage or the charisma of Jessica Jones. However, that isn't to say that Danny is a total failure, as he's still a pretty strong, if familiar, protagonist. If you're a fan of Batman Begins or Arrow, then you'll no doubt enjoy this tale of a rich kid transformed into a hero by a tragic and trying experience abroad. In place of Batman and Green Arrow's grim personality, though, Danny is almost naively trusting and always looking for the good in people and to do the right thing. His gullibility is frustrating at times, but it puts a fresh spin on this type of superhero. Finn Jones has also had a bad rap from critics, but he isn't weak in the role. Sure, he doesn't come across as a great warrior, but Marvel clearly wanted to go in a younger, perhaps more vulnerable, direction with the character and he definitely fulfills that. Plus, his American accent is stronger than fellow Brit Charlie Cox as Daredevil. 1) Colleen Wing Marvel's Netflix shows have probably been stronger than the MCU's movies in introducing tough female characters who steal the show. e.g. Jessica, Claire, Misty Knight, Elektra, etc. Thankfully, Iron Fist continues this trend with Colleen Wing, the Daughter of the Dragon, who is by far the best character in the series. While Danny doesn't really convince as a master martial artist, Colleen 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. It's definitely Colleen rather than Danny who provides the standout action sequences of Iron Fist. More than that, though, she's just fun to watch. Jessica Henwick acquits herself a lot better here than in her stint on Game of Thrones and outshines pretty much anyone else on the cast. Thanks to her, Colleen is tough-as-nails, sure, but also courageous and clever, too. How about that Misty Knight and Colleen Wing spin-off series, Marvel?