The Defenders Will Complete Iron Fist’s Origin Story

Iron Fist and the story of Danny Rand debuted to Netflix audiences in March, but actor Finn Jones has revealed Danny’s origin story won’t be completed until the martial arts expert joins up with The Defenders.

“At the end of Iron Fist, [Danny] doesn’t even know what a superhero is. So then to suddenly be interacting with these three… [They] really make him kind of wise up and come to terms with his responsibilities a lot more,” Jones told Den of Geek. “From the beginning where we see Danny in Iron Fist to where he ends up in The Defenders, he has made that complete origin arc. He has shed his immature self. The idea is, in The Defenders, he has in a sense become the Iron Fist.”

Jones’ comments echo those he shared with EW earlier this year, remarking that “Iron Fist is like Danny in his adolescence, and The Defenders is like Danny taking responsibility and moving forward with his purpose.”

“He’s cracking desperately for family, for help, for guidance, for people to learn from, and for a team [in The Defenders]. He’s looking for that deeply,” Jones noted. “But because of what happens in Iron Fist, he’s very untrusting of a lot of people, and he has a very independent spirit, and it’s really his way or no way.”

Now that Danny will have to take part in a team unlike his solo series, audiences will see a different side of the character.

“What we’re seeing [in The Defenders] is Danny is definitely becoming more at ease, I’d say, and more comfortable with his environment because he has others around him, because he’s not going at it alone anymore. You get to see Danny’s brighter side coming out, and he’s not so tormented by this, but also because he’s found his purpose,” Jones said.

“In Iron Fist, he’s so unwound, because he doesn’t know who he is, there’s always so much confusion, and he’s always on the brink of a total meltdown, or totally annihilating something, someone, mainly himself. There’s always this high energy frenetic tension, but in Defenders, he’s definitely more responsible. He has ground, has drive. I’d say that’s the key word for Danny in The Defenders. He drives all of the Defenders to get behind him to solve this issue.”

The longer, drawn out origin story mirrors the development laid out across the other Netflix series, with Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage never quite fully forming their heroes all the way, due to the nature of serialized television versus more compact movies. Jon Bernthal, who portrays the Marvel Cinematic Universe‘s Punisher, will also not be fully formed come his own solo series in November.

The event crossover series The Defenders, premiering on Netflix on August 18th, sees blind lawyer Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), superhuman private investigator Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), super strong Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and billionaire kung-fu monk Danny form an alliance to save New York City from a threat spearheaded by a mysterious foe known only as Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver).