WARNING: The following article contains minor spoilers for Marvel's Iron Fist Season 2, arriving Friday, Sept. 7, on Netflix.
Marvel's The Defenders and Luke Cage Season 2 made great strides in reforming Danny Rand, whose introduction last year in his own series failed to win over audiences. Arriving Friday on Netflix, the leaner second season of Iron Fist largely learns from the mistakes of the first, with vastly improved fight sequences, flashbacks that serve the main narrative, and clearly defined primary antagonists.
And yet, at times during the six episodes provided for review, it doesn't feel so much like the second season of Iron Fist as it does the first season of Steel Serpent or Daughters of the Dragon, with Danny Rand as a supporting player.
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Finn Jones' title character, the billionaire orphan turned guardian of K'un-Lun turned vigilante, spent hit debut season at the mercy of virtually everyone else, pinballing from one antagonist's scheme to the next, never in control of his own destiny. But here, in the wake of The Defenders finale, that's changed: He's seemingly given up his quest to reopen the gate to the mystical city, and has instead embraced his promise to Matt Murdock to protect New York. He's settled into a spacious Chinatown apartment -- the former Chikara Dojo -- with Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) and taken a day job as a mover, while spending his nights watching over Lower Manhattan. He even dons a mask (but not that one). Colleen, meanwhile, has hung up her katana, shaken not by her killing of former mentor Bakuto, but by her failure to better judge his character. She instead devotes her time to volunteering at a community center, resisting Danny's invitations to join him on patrol.
But even before that can be firmly established as the new status quo, it's upended first by the growing conflict between the Golden Tigers and the Hatchet, rival gangs seeking to fill the vacuum left by the defeat of The Hand, and then by the scheming of Joy Meachum (Jessica Stroup) and Davos (Sacha Dhawan), whose unlikely alliance was teased in the final moments of Season 1. Their motivations are straightforward, even if their scheme, at least initially, isn't. They believe they've been wronged by Danny, and they want him to pay.
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As improbable as their partnership may seem, it's nothing compared to the key to their plan, Mary Walker (Alice Eve), better known to Marvel Comics readers as Daredevil villain Typhoid Mary. Suffering from dissociative identity disorder, she emerges, at turns, as a formidable enemy and an unpredictable ally for Iron Fist. Eve effectively plays two characters on Iron Fist, and her transformation from one to the other is remarkable, reflected not only through voice and actions, but also in posture; her onscreen presence completely changes.
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Despite the wild card embodied by the mercurial Mary Walker, Iron Fist's second season is far more streamlined than the previous one, which in its defense, not only had to introduce Danny Rand, Colleen Wing and K'un-Lun, but also had to give form to the menacing Hand ahead of The Defenders. That would've been enough for any 13-episode arc to attempt, but Season 1 also injected threats from Harold Meachum, Ward Meachum, Bakuto and, somewhat inexplicably, the DEA. By contrast, Season 2, with its 10 episodes, is faster paced, and its revenge plot more straightforward, leaving room for character development -- even if that character isn't Danny Rand.
Instead, we're given insight into Davos, Danny's adoptive brother whose stoic exterior barely contains the rage and jealousy over being denied the chance to battle Shao-Lou the Undying and become the Iron Fist. Through flashbacks, we're given insight into his relationship with Danny, their shared upbringing in K'un-Lun, and what drove Davos in Season 1 to seek out Danny, and what drives him now to go to such great lengths to take back what was destined to be his. Although viewers will probably never like Davos, through this arc -- his origin, really -- they can at least understand him, in some ways more than they do Danny. He's aggrieved after losing his dream job to an unqualified guy who then walked away from his responsibilities. Most of us can relate on some level, even if our experiences don't involve immortal dragons and glowing fists.
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Similarly, the season may offer the true beginnings of the Daughters of the Dragon, the fan-favorite comic book pairing of Colleen Wing and Misty Knight (Simone Missick) previously only glimpsed on The Defenders and Luke Cage. There's an undeniable chemistry in their interactions as Misty, on vacation as she decides her future with the New York Police Department, nurtures the budding detective in Colleen as each of them arrives at a crossroads in her life. It's difficult to discern whether Marvel Television and Netflix are planting the seeds for a Daughters of the Dragon spinoff or are merely performing fan service, but their scenes together -- whether talking in the car or going blow for blow with adversaries -- will have viewers hoping for the former.
Caught between those two intriguing storylines, Iron Fist struggles to keep from fading into the background. The humor and charisma on display in his episode of Luke Cage have all but disappeared in his own second season. Jones' performance isn't to blame, however; after all, he's the same actor who won over skeptical fans with his swagger and "Sweet XMas" hoodie that last time we saw him. The fault instead lies with the writing, which carves off the insolent-teen-meets-barefoot-philosopher aspects of Danny's personality that so grated in Season 1, but doesn't really replace them with anything. As a result, he comes across as little more than a generic nice guy with a chest tattoo and an apparent ignorance of SpongeBob SquarePants.
As a result, viewers will find themselves drawn to Davos' far more compelling "hero's journey," even if the Steel Serpent that emerges on the other side isn't exactly a hero.
In the end, the second season of Iron Fist improves upon the first, even if the show's writers, led by new showrunner Raven Metzner, have yet to figure out just who Danny Rand is, and -- just as importantly -- why viewers should be rooting for him.
Arriving Sept. 7 on Netflix, Marvel’s Iron Fist Season 2 stars Finn Jones as Danny Rand, Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing, Sacha Dhawan as Davos, Tom Pelphrey as Ward Meachum, Jessica Stroup as Joy Meachum, Simone Missick as Misty Knight and Alice Eve as Mary Walker.