SPOILERS: IRON FIST - 10 Awesome Easter Eggs You May Have Missed
Iron Fist is the final Marvel TV series on Netflix before The Defenders launches, so it should come as no surprise to learn that it's packed full of Easter Eggs, references, cameos, and more...
Regardless of whether you love or hate Iron Fist, there's no denying that Marvel and Netflix's latest TV series brings a lot of very interesting new things to the table ahead of The Defenders. As well as helping set the stage for that upcoming eight-part event, it also firmly establishes Danny Rand's place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
However, as you might expect for a series which takes place after the events of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage and before their eventual team up with Iron Fist, it's crammed full of awesome Easter Eggs, references, and cameos.
Along with paying homage to those characters and their respective adventures, Iron Fist also delivers plenty of awesome nods to the titular hero's comic book exploits and his world in general. What you'll find here then is a look at the ten best and hardest to spot Easter Eggs, but as always, it goes without saying that major spoilers follow...
10. Jessica Jones, P.I.
Forced out of Rand Enterprises by the board of directors, Joy Meachum reveals to her brother Ward that she's been gathering dirt on each of them in case something like this were to ever happen. He's blown away by his sister's ruthlessness, but who collected those photos - and potential blackmail material - for her?
Well, Joy mentions a private investigator who was "worth every penny...when she was sober." That's obviously a reference to Jessica Jones and a cool way to tie these characters together. Daredevil gets a couple of nods too courtesy of Madame Gao and Claire Temple, but those were far more straightforward references and not as easy to miss as this one.
9. The Thunderer
We only get to see K'un-Lun from a distance in Iron Fist, a shame considering the fact that it's somewhere fans have been hoping to see in live-action for some time now. However, we do hear plenty about the mystical location Danny Rand was trained at and one character who gets a lot of mentions is Lei-Kung, a.k.a. The Thunderer.
Just like in the comic books, he's the father of Davos, though that eventual villain's story plays out a lot differently here than in the source material because we never get to see him try and fail to take down Shou-Lao. Even so, it definitely feels like The Thunderer is being set up for some sort of appearance down the line as his name is dropped on numerous occasions in the series and Davos sets out to kill Danny Rand.
8. Daughter Of The Dragon
Colleen Wing's stint as a cage fighter in Iron Fist doesn't last particularly long, but when she has to come up with a fight name fairly early on in the series, she rather appropriately refers to herself as a "Daughter of the Dragon." That's obviously a play on the name she and Misty Knight go by when they team up in the comic books and it's hard not to wonder if we'll hear this moniker again somewhere down the line.
It's also interesting to note that the man refereeing those battles and introducing the competitors to those in attendance is credited as "The Ringmaster." Is he the classic Spider-Man villain? It's hard to say, but interesting to ponder the possibilities of what such a cameo appearance might mean.
7. Another Iron Fist
When Danny is taken to Bakuto's compound ahead of that big reveal about The Hand, he's shown footage from decades ago featuring the last man to have held the mantle of the Iron Fist protecting K-un-Lun from a group of soldiers. Both his fists are ignited and he's wearing a mask and costume very similar to both Danny and the man we're presumably seeing in action here.
That is of course Orson Randall, the "Golden Age Iron Fist" who first appeared in the Immortal Iron Fist comics, and this scene confirms the whole legacy aspect of the character in the sense that there's been an Iron Fist protecting the mystical city for centuries. This is something Madame Gao refers to at one point too, so with any luck, future seasons of the show could end up delving into this plot thread in an even bigger way.
6. Karen Page
While Daredevil only gets a couple of name drops in Iron Fist, one of the Man Without Fear's closest allies ends up playing a key role in this series. When the board of Rand Enterprises attempts to force Danny to retract his apology for the fact one of the company's plants has caused a series of cancer diagnoses, he reveals that he's contacted Karen Page of The Daily Bulletin to make it clear that Rand will be closing down that factory until they can be sure it's not pumping out deadly chemicals.
This confirms that the former secretary has remained with the newspaper since Matt Murdock revealed his secret identity to her and once again leaves us without a single mention of The Daily Bugle despite Spider-Man being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
5. Luke Cage
As you'll no doubt already know, Danny Rand and Luke Cage ultimately team up to become Heroes for Hire. Whether or not that's the plan for this version of the heroes remains to be seen, but Power Man does at least get a couple of nods in Iron Fist. The first comes when we see Claire Temple reading a letter he's sent to her from prison, something which confirms he's still behind bars when this series takes place.
The second is a little more fun as the former nurse lends Danny one of Luke's t-shirts and it is of course riddled with bullet holes. This is something which could easily be referenced in The Defenders, and while it's a shame that we get no sign of their budding friendship here, it's nice to think the door may have been opened to it happening.
4. Marvel Monsters
When Danny finally regains his stake in Rand Enterprises, he immediately heads to his father's old office. There, he dives to the floor (in front of a very confused Jeri Hogarth, a character you'll recognise from Jessica Jones and Daredevil) to look at the stickers he placed beneath the desk as a child. Those should be instantly familiar to Jack Kirby fans as they're all classic Marvel movie monsters he created back in the day.
The Defenders comic book baddie Orrgo the Unconquerable is immediately recognisable, but a variety of others can also be seen and their presence is particularly topical considering the fact Marvel currently has a Monsters themed event taking place called Monsters Unleashed. Will we ever see them in live-action? Fingers crossed!
3. Zhou Cheng
You'd be forgiven for thinking that the man Danny battles in China is just a random character created for Iron Fist, but in reality, this is Zhou Cheng. In the series, he's a master of the "Drunken Fist" style of Kung Fu, and what follows is one of the show's coolest fight scenes. However, his comic book counterpart is a lot more important to the Iron Fist mythos.
That's due to the fact that he's a mystical being dispatched to kill everyone who holds the mantle of Iron Fist on their 33rd birthday. The show clearly has no intention of heading down that route, a shame considering just how interesting a story it could have made for in a future season. Instead, Cheng is demoted to the status of a protector of The Hand.
2. The Wider Marvel Cinematic Universe
The timeline of these Marvel shows on Netflix remains incredibly confusing. While Iron Fist clearly takes place after Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, where it fits into the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe is hard to say. We do however get a mention of "The Incident" a couple of times and that's obviously a reference to the Chitauri invasion in The Avengers.
There is, however, still no word on the events of Age of Ultron or Captain America: Civil War. Talking of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, a certain "incredible green guy" gets a nod and is actually the only one of them to be alluded to here. Oh, and in episode thirteen, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for Stan Lee's cameo once again in the form of a poster.
1. Elektra
Iron Fist handles The Hand (no pun intended) in a very confusing way, but Bakuto proves to be a pretty interesting and formidable foe. While it's never really established how his faction of the villainous ninja clan factors into the events of Daredevil, there are two very interesting nods here. For starters, he talks about someone being very excited to work with Danny after he's been captured and forced into agreeing to work for the Hand and, before that, he attempts to have Colleen's blood drained for reasons unknown.
Now, if I had to guess, I'd say these were both possible nods to Elektra, especially as he mentions The Hand's ability to stitch people back together. I suppose it's possible that the person he's taken to meet isn't Elektra in that case and could in fact be Sigourney Weaver's mysterious big bad from The Defenders. Still, food for thought!
Which of these Iron Fist Easter Eggs was your favourite? Have we missed any good ones? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below.
DISCLAIMER: ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and...
[MORE]
ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.