Advertisement
Advertisement
Netflix
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing in Marvel's Iron Fist on Netflix.

Will an Asian female Iron Fist make the Netflix series better? Colleen Wing takes over the glowing hand mantle

Hints have also been made that Colleen Wing, played by British actress Jessica Henwick, is a descendant of the first female Iron Fist, Wu Ao-Shi

Netflix

When it arrived in 2017, Iron Fist took a lot of heat for not having an Asian leading man in a mystical martial arts role. Turns out the Netflix/Marvel series had an ace up its sleeve: an Asian leading lady ready to take over the mantle.

In a second season that has vastly improved over the first, nothing stood out more than Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) emerging as the new Iron Fist in the final (10th) episode. Henwick, a British actress, is the daughter of a Singaporean-Chinese mother, and her father is British author Mark Henwick.

10 best Netflix hits to binge on during this weekend’s super typhoon

It is a bold move that becomes excitedly predictable once we realise Danny Rand (Finn Jones) is not confident he is wielding the Iron Fist for all the right reasons. Danny feels like he is becoming addicted to the power of the fist and constantly looks for a reason to light it up. When his adoptive brother Davos (Sacha Dhawan) steals the Iron Fist power from him, the fight to get that power back comes with the realisation that, at least for now, someone else should be the Iron Fist.

That someone is Colleen, who is now officially a vigilante in New York, fighting crime with her chi-charged glowing white fist and katana blade.

If ever there was a move that makes up for this show not giving us the yellow and green Iron Fist superhero suit, it is this one. But Colleen being the new Iron Fist is not the only thing special about the end of Season 2. Another major revelation is that she may be the descendant of Wu Ao-Shi, the first female Iron Fist.

Henwick and Fin Jones in a still from Iron Fist.

Wu made her first appearance in the Marvel Comics reboot of the original comic series in February 2007 in The Immortal Iron Fist No. 2, before her story was fleshed out in The Immortal Iron Fist No. 7 six months later.

She is also known as “The Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay” and it is this alias that is mentioned in Season 2 in a story of a warrior woman and the fisherman she loved. Thought by Colleen to be a fairy tale, the events actually happened long ago in K’un-Lun, the magical land where Danny trained and eventually became the Iron Fist.

Danny is convinced Wu Ao-Shi and Colleen are connected, giving a stronger explanation of how she is able to contain the power of the Iron Fist to begin with.

There is also the matter of the dead corpse – a former, suited-up Iron Fist – that Davos uses as part of the ceremonial act needed to steal the Iron Fist away from Danny. With Davos defeated at season’s end by a final Iron Fist blow to the ground from Colleen (and the Iron Fist power taken from him), Danny can now concentrate on who sent the dead Iron Fist body to Davos.

Henwick in a still from Iron Fist.

In the season finale, Danny (and his childhood friend Ward) are in Japan, where they name-drop Orson Randall, and let everyone know they are looking for him. That brings about gunfire, which Danny is able to deflect by pulling out two guns, charging them up with the same Iron Fist chi he has used in the past, and sending two chi-charged bullets in the direction of the gunfire and deflecting it.

That chi gun trick? Iron Fist comic readers will recognise it as a trademark of Orson Randall, the first world war-era Iron Fist. Randall made his comics debut in The Immortal Iron Fist No. 1. We don’t see him in the season finale, but he is shaping up to be a major player next season.

5 best Marvel TV shows so far as Luke Cage returns to Netflix

The mentioning of Orson Randall and Wu Ao-Shi proves Netflix and Marvel have refused to let another season of Iron Fist go by without looking to the best Iron Fist comic material at their disposal – something they did not do in the first season. The comic book DNA of The Immortal Iron Fist, by writers Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction and artist David Aja (and other illustrators), is evident this season and looks to be the main influence for the future.

In our mild review of Iron Fist’s first season, we mentioned a strong embrace of The Immortal Iron Fist could be the perfect remedy for what was ailing this series (we also said Henwick would make a strong Iron Fist herself). The story focuses on the discovery of Iron Fists of the past and other magic cities like K’un-Lun, each with a protector similar to Iron Fist, who all must eventually compete in a tournament, fighting against each other.

Iron Fist finally seems headed in that direction. With strong source material guiding the way, a new Iron Fist in Colleen (which isn’t a part of The Immortal Iron Fist comic book story, but should be a welcome change by many fans), Davos not being dead, and the potential of a Daughters of the Dragon spin-off series with Henwick and Simone Missick’s Misty Knight, this show has gone from Netflix’s weakest Marvel link to one that could possibly be the streaming giant’s best superhero offering.

Having said that, here is hoping the suit and mask finally show up in Season 3.

The second season of Iron Fist is streaming on Netflix.

Post