Following the initial announcement that Netflix would create TV shows centered around Luke Cage and Iron Fist, comic fans immediately began wondering if this meant we’d see their legendary team-up, the Heroes for Hire, in any of the Netflix series. While the two characters have yet to team up in their solo series, star Finn Jones teased to IGN that the upcoming Marvel’s The Defenders will definitely set the stage for that dynamic to be explored.
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“What we’re seeing is the birth of this iconic comic book bromance come to life on screen for the first time and it’s super exciting,” Jones explained. “I remember when I read the script, their scenes really stood out to me because [showrunner Marco Ramirez] did such a good job writing the scenes. It didn’t feel cheesy or on the nose, it actually felt really relevant.”
With any adaptation of well-known properties, fans immediately begin to hypothesize about what familiar elements might appear in any given TV show or movie. Since it took four years after the introduction of Iron Man to bring together the Avengers, Marvel has often played the long game by teasing a variety of comic book references over the course of years.
“It would have been so easy to just set it up and suddenly they’re best buds from the get-go, but what I really admired about the way that they first meet is they don’t see eye-to-eye,” explains Jones. “They come from very different backgrounds and there’s conflict between them. It makes a really relevant relationship between the two.”
The idea of Heroes for Hire was born in the pages of Luke Cage’s solo comic series, a business that allowed him to combined his super powers with a private investigation service. With their different personalities and skill sets, Luke teamed up with Iron Fist so they could solve more investigations, marking the beginning of a legendary team.
Elements of the various Marvel shows on Netflix have alluded to the concept, with sequences in Marvel’s Luke Cage specifically showing him helping out people in his community, but the meeting of these two characters clearly opens the door for the dynamic to be explored in upcoming series.
Jones added, “I’m super excited about this relationship, not only because it’s a lot of fun but there’s room for a lot of really interesting conversation along the way.”
Marvel’s The Defenders premieres on Netflix on Aug. 18, 2017.
