Warning: Contains spoilers for Luke Cage season 2.
Iron Fist isn't exactly the most-liked character in the Marvel TV universe after a dodgy first season that was hit with accusations of whitewashing.
So the news that Iron Fist (Finn Jones), AKA Danny Rand, would make an appearance in Luke Cage season two was met with dismay, even though everyone should have expected it given the duo's Heroes for Hire comic book history, where the two teamed up to offer professional investigation and protection services.
Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker even had to defend the crossover ahead of season two, saying it didn't bother him that Iron Fist's solo outing and Defenders appearance was criticised.
"I'm arrogant enough to think that Iron Fist appearing on our show has a different sensibility. And so, it's like — that's the thing — I'm not dissuaded by that, because Iron Fist I think is a dope character," he explained.
"And I think when you see Iron Fist within the realm of Luke Cage, and the way that we do things, I think — hopefully — that people are going to come to appreciate the character differently, and hopefully that swagger that he'll get from appearing in the Luke Cage universe will carry over into Iron Fist season two."
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We're here to say that Coker was true to his word and Iron Fist's appearance in Luke Cage really isn't that bad.
There are spoilers after the photo.
So it helps that Iron Fist is barely in season two, only appearing in episode 10 'The Main Ingredient', following earlier appearances from Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) who helps Misty Knight (Simone Missick) recover from her Defenders injury, with The Rand Corporation even gifting Misty with her new bionic arm.
Then episode nine sees Luke Cage (Mike Colter), his father James Lucas (Reg E Cathey), Misty, Mariah Stokes (Alfre Woodard) and her daughter Tilda Johnson (Gabrielle Dennis) take refuge in a Rand facility after Bushmaster (Mustafa Shakir) puts out a $3 million bounty on the heads of Mariah and Tilda.
This eventually leads to Bushmaster's arrest as he launches an assault on the facility, but loses out in a fight with Luke.
Danny then pops up in Harlem at the start of the next episode as he drops into Pop's Barber Shop. Despite Luke telling him it's not his fight, Danny responds that he makes it "my fight" and the two go off to bring down Bushmaster's ventures in Harlem.
This includes visiting Harlem's Paradise and taking out a warehouse where Bushmaster is growing the nightshade that brings out his powers (and also slowly poisoning him at the same time). In case you'd forgotten that Danny was rich, he buys the building so that it can be burnt down, destroying Bushmaster's last hope of getting new nightshade in Harlem.
The two then enjoy a meal together as Danny reveals that it was Claire (Rosario Dawson) who persuaded him to come to Harlem to check on Luke. "She's worried about you, about your anger, what it's doing to you. How do you expect to defend a city if you're at war with yourself?" Danny tells Luke in a classic annoying Iron Fist manner.
And with that, Danny is gone by the next episode and doesn't appear again in season two. So if you're really concerned about spending another hour with Iron Fist, you could probably just skip the episode entirely.
Luke Cage season two is now available to watch on Netflix.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
