How The Defenders Saved Danny Rand
Netflix Marvel shows are all critically acclaimed by fans and critics alike. All but one — Iron Fist. Iron Fist is easily the most controversial of all the Netflix Marvel shows. It was plagued with controversy and critique even before it was officially released. Many often presented the problematic source material as a core reason as it resembled what is commonly known as white savior complex. Another reason was the rumor that an actor was rejected from the role of Danny Rand for simply being Asian.
Once the show was actually released, it was met with scathing reviews from critics. Some fans enjoyed the show as a whole, but noted that it was worse than the other Marvel Netflix and Danny Rand being a major point of contention. Many of the show’s flaws have been somewhat vindicated, with The Defenders removing the Wards from the spotlight and explaining some of the more confusing aspects of the Iron Fist and the Hand. It also brought Danny back down to Earth.
Danny has suffered much in his life. He lost his parents and was forced to be raised away from home where he was beaten. However, it doesn’t excuse his behavior in Iron Fist and the early parts of The Defenders. Luke Cage points this out to him in the scene starting with the quote in the ~.gif above. Danny was born rich. Even before training in K’un-Lun, he had power. He is white, and more than that, he’s rich and will continue to be rich unless Rand Enterprises somehow goes bankrupt. Because of this, he never has to pay attention or connect with the “little guy” in any way. After everyone realizes that he is who he says he is, he flaunts his money around to get what he wants, even buying Colleen’s apartment so he can talk to her, regardless of how she feels about it. In the above conversation, Luke points out that he’s reckless because of it. He fails to understand financial issues. When encountering someone who works for the Hand, he doesn’t think there’s a person who is trying to make ends meet. He views them as intrinsically evil rather than a victim of circumstance. This is also emphasized when, despite having this financial power over others, he rarely uses it for good. When he does, it’s often blind. He doesn’t open up businesses in Harlem to make sure the Hand can’t get hold of any more children and young adults. He just beats them into submission. It never occurs to him to use any of his power outside of violence. The Defenders forced Danny to think about his actions before taking them, and to also find other methods and powers to use before punching people. This forces Danny to think about that fact that beating up people at the bottom is not going to stop the hand — it’s just hurting people who don’t have a lot of options.
Danny also lacked direction. His goals and actions are always in conflict. He states all the time his job is to protect K’un-Lun, yet leaves for New York. He wants to defeat the Hand, but leaves New York even though he found both Madame Gao and Bakuto in New York. A genre savvy character would note that if two head members are there, then more members should be gathering. In fact, he leaves without even defeating those two members. So, the viewer is forced to ask, “What are you doing that doesn’t directly contradict what you’re saying?” One could argue getting revenge on the Hand is his direction, but he has no real plan on how to do it. With Daredevil, Matt not having any real direction at first was written into the show. Luke and Jessica both knew exactly what they wanted, or didn’t want, and worked toward that goal. The ending of the new series gave him a new, while general, more focused goal. This also connects with his privilege. Danny is now aware that some villains can be defeated by signing a check.
The Defenders is, for all intents and purposes, a sequel to Iron Fist and Daredevil featuring Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. And, despite the success of the film Doctor Strange, Marvel decided to downplay the mysticism in Iron Fist. This lead to a situation where the viewers rarely ever saw the eponymous Iron Fist and didn’t really know the whole deal with K’un-Lun and the Hand. The Defenders has him using it far more often and expands greatly on the mystical elements. Iron Fist ideally should have felt like a modern kung-fu or wuxia movie set in New York. Without the Iron Fist, Danny is just a guy who knows martial arts. Matt is also just a guy who knows martial arts, but he’s blind, so it’s still exciting to see. While superpowers won’t make a show great, a show about a superhero needs to show off the superpowers. When a viewer comes to see a superhero series like, for example, Spider-Man, they want to see him swinging from building to building and shooting webs. If this doesn’t happen, no matter how good the plot is, viewers will be disappointed.
The fight scenes in Iron Fist were mostly terrible and distracting as they made it seem like Danny isn’t a master martial artist. He was only given ten minutes to learn the choreography before each scene, so this was not the fault of Finn Jones. He seemed to be flailing wildly in his own show, which was incredibly notable because the other actors were acrobats and martial artists. However, his scenes in The Defenders were, well, awesome.
Danny is very much so a flawed character, but The Defenders did so much for his character. Even his hair is better. He’s still unnecessarily violent, as shown when he would rather fight his friends than just listen to what they have to say. The show did wonders for both Danny’s character and vindicated Iron Fist from being the worst of the MCU Netflix shows to being a necessity to watch. While Danny wasn’t a bad character, he was always quite frustrating to watch. His actions never seemed to have any impact on his rationale. Now, he’s aware of both his strengths and weaknesses, and his impact on New York. Danny Rand is a good character. Sleep tight.
