Iron Fist is better than the critics are saying

Iron Fist was Marvel and Netflix’s eagerly anticipated next big superhero television show, following in the footsteps of the critically acclaimed and quite frankly brilliant Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. However, the Finn Jones led latest addition to the Marvel television universe seems to have been met rather negatively.

It currently sits with a 17% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes which is a far-cry from the unanimous acclaim that Daredevil’s first and second season, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage got, and technically makes it Netflix and Marvel’s first major superhero flop.

But why are people hating on Danny Rand and his glowing fist? Well, first of all they’re using the quality and acclaim of Iron Fist’s Netflix predecessors as a stick to beat it with. Sure, it doesn’t have ground-breaking television fight choreography like Daredevil, spot-on authentic cultural representation like Luke Cage, or a compelling and scene-stealing villain like Kilgrave in Jessica Jones, but I think it’s a bit unfair to label Iron Fist bad just because it isn’t as good as the brilliant first season of Daredevil.

Especially when we do get a lot of good things with Iron Fist. In the reverse of Luke Cage it starts off fairly slowly and then slowly builds up and gets better, really building up speed in the latter half of the season. I genuinely believe most of the critical reviews of the show are based solely on the earlier episodes and that the final stretch of the season where Iron Fist finally starts embracing some of the more magical elements of Danny Rand’s canon and the show significantly improves isn’t being taken into account.

We’re still given a superhero television show with a cinematic production value feel, there’s big brutal visceral fights showcasing a plethora of martial arts, top-notch special effects and a whole ton of obscure and obvious Marvel Easter Eggs that will keep a super-fan entertained if nothing else does. The narrative is decent enough and it’s laying the groundwork for the upcoming street-level superhero team-up The Defenders.

Let’s not forget that this is a character created solely to exploit the burst in popularity for martial arts in film and television and that Danny Rand is literally an orphaned boy imbued with the power of a dragon’s heart from a mystical heaven-like place called K’un-Lun that makes his fist glow, and in reality this is the best a show about this will get.

So no, Iron Fist won’t be challenging for the title of best ever Marvel and Netflix television series, and honestly, it’s probably the worst of the five we’ve had so far, but just because the others were better doesn’t mean this one isn’t good! Give it a watch, you might be pleasantly surprised.