Not long ago I identified Iron Fist as one of the heavy hitters that has yet to appear in the MCU. While I feel that Iron Fist, Luke Cage and a few others are made for an episodic small screen invasion, I did mention that Danny Rand's business-like demeanor could be a fit for the MCU despite having a hard time imagining a full-fledged kung-fu flick being added to the ever-expanding filmography of Marvel Studios. And then I read The Immortal Iron Fist.
The Immortal Iron Fist, which ran for nearly 3 years from November 2006-August 2009, was co-written by Marvel go-to-guys Matt Fraction and Ed "The Winter Soldier" Brubaker. It takes Danny Rand, the Iron Fist of those of you who don't know (is that a Meet and Greet on the back burner?), all over the map and channels some of my favorite movies, at least in my mind. In reading it, my schema elicited Bloodsport, some Indiana Jones and some Bond undertones. Upon reading this 27 issue series I felt two distinct reactions. First, this will make an absolutely amazing addition to the MCU. Second, how in THE hell did I miss this for this long?
To be clear this completely washed away my concerns about a full-fledged kung-fu film being added to the MCU...because it is not just the kung-fu. This is a deep, rich story that deserves telling. It was pure silliness on my part to overlook it. As much as I have tried to delved into the history of Marvel comics, I just had this one sitting in my library on Marvel Unlimited for the past 3 months. This is a beautiful story. It brings in other great Marvel characters like Luke Cage and Misty Knight and has a great heroic journey.
Super-duper-Latino-scooper, El Mayimbe, has been dropping an Iron Fist tweet or two lately. Is it possible that Marvel is so confident that they are going to weave the tale of the Iron Fist into their MCU? If so I would be thrilled. I love kung-fu. I love the character of Danny Rand. I love that it would bring Luke Cage to the screen. This might be all in my head but that don't mean I can't be happy none!
UPDATE:
Doing some researching today while looking for something new to write about on a slow news day and I came across a Screen Rant interview with Kevin Feige from 2010 in which he discusses the possibilities of an Iron Fist film. It seems that Feige had the exact same thoughts I did about the Brubaker/Fraction run on Iron Fist. When asked about some lesser known properties that might make it to the big screen one day, Feige said, "I think what Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction have done with 'Iron Fist' lately is exciting..." And that's exciting.
What's more interesting to me is that Feige, in the same interview if not the same breath, mentions Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther and Doctor Strange all of which are in various stages of development but are going to get done. This is a great example of why looking back at things can be worthwhile. I'm increasingly certain that we are going to get Danny Rand in the MCU...I mean Feige practically said so 3 years ago. Is Iron Fist a Phase 3 film for Marvel?