Billionaire Danny Rand is the Immortal Iron Fist. A living weapon in every sense of the word, he spent nearly his entire youth training in the secret mystical city of K’un-Lun. While there, he trained under the greatest martial arts of all time, suffering horribly the entire time. He did it all to become K’un-Lun’s protector and to become the Iron Fist. Capable of channeling his life energy, or chi, into his fist, Danny Rand’s weapon is capable of taking most opponents out with a single strike. He’s punched helicarriers out of the sky, is immune to magic and energy-based attacks, and can give himself a healing factor at a moments notice.

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Despite being one of Marvel’s most powerful heroes, Iron Fist’s abilities aren’t terribly well known -- it’s easy to pass him off as just another kung fu hero. You know who else can be misconstrued as just a privileged dude who knows martial arts? Batman. The Dark Knight, Batman’s fighting skill and resources are almost without peer. Yet the Caped Crusader would more than have his hands full if he made the mistake of crossing Iron Fist, and today at CBR we’re going to look at 16 reasons why Danny Rand, the Immortal Iron Fist, would completely thrash Batman.

16 HE'S BEATEN A DRAGON

Oh sure, Batman has fought Superman, Wonder Woman, Darkseid, and a whole list of powerful foes, but it bares mentioning those fights typically didn’t end well for the Caped Crusader. Iron Fist on the other hand, while he might not be battling heroes like the Hulk and Thor on a regular basis, has more than enough power to take on Marvel’s heavy hitters.

Even before Danny possessed the Iron Fist, he had to fight a full-fledged dragon to earn that right. He didn’t have a utility belt full of smoke grenades, Batarangs, or a grappling hook -- all he had was an indomitable will. In fighting said dragon, Danny punched the massive beast in the chest and right through into its heart, burning the emblem of the dragon on his chest. Once you’ve punched out a dragon, a man dressed as a bat poses little challenge.

15 SELF-HEALING

Perhaps the world’s foremost expert on chi manipulation, Danny Rand is capable of more than focusing his chi into a glowing wrecking ball of a fist. Being both a superhero and the champion of K’un-Lun, Iron Fist gets threats coming at him from all sides. Which is actually totally okay to Danny because he has the ability to self-heal. Though he doesn’t have a healing factor like Wolverine, Iron Fist’s ability to channel his energy and heal himself, even in the midst of battle, is the next best thing.

He’s suffered incredible injuries, nearly at death’s door, but his wounds heal almost automatically. He can even purge poisons from his body; there are few wounds he cannot recover from. While it takes a toll to heal from serious wounds, Iron Fist will end the fight, and Batman, before he’s completely exhausted and drained of chi.

14 HE DOESN'T NEED GADGETS

Batman’s super powers are his wealth and the wide array of gadgets his wealth affords him. Iron Fist also has tremendous wealth, but unlike the Dark Knight, he doesn’t spend his money on toys. Why, you ask, because he doesn’t need gadgets. The Iron Fist has always been more than enough for Danny Rand. Heck, it’s been more than enough for anyone unfortunate enough to fight him.

Danny’s off the charts skill in martial arts, along with his wide range of abilities, means he can do everything Batman can and more. Weapons like swords and potential Batarangs would simply shatter against his Iron Fist. Danny doesn’t need to pack a toxicology kit, because he can cure himself with his chi. Smoke bombs won’t work, and even if Danny can’t sense or see his enemy, he can punch the Earth so hard it’ll explode everything around him.

13 HE'S IMMUNE TO MAGIC

Batman likes to be prepared for anything. If he had the opportunity to study Iron Fist, he might pay close attention to the superhero’s magical nature. Despite his distrust for magic, Batman’s been known to use it to his advantage against magical enemies, as he’s even enlisted magical heroes like Zatanna to help him out. If that’s the strategy he takes again Iron Fist, the Dark Knight is going to be disappointed.

Iron Fist is immune to nearly any and all magical attacks. He gained the ability after he traveled into another dimension and met up with the Eye of Agamotto and the Ancient One. The Ancient One then gave Danny a fancy new outfit that injected him with some new powers; one of them being immunity to magic. Try again, Batman!

12 ENERGY ABSORPTION

If it comes down to it, Batman will utilize energy-based weapons to take out an opponent. With everything the Dark Knight stores in his Batcave, it wouldn’t be surprising to discover he owns plasma grenades to go along with the Power Rings he has secretly locked away. And yet, that too would prove ineffective.

We know Danny can focus his chi to summon the mighty Iron Fist and perform other miracles, like healing others, as chi is the centerpiece to what makes Iron Fist whole. Danny can bring his energy out in dramatic ways, i.e. the Iron Fist, but he can also absorb energy. Large amounts or small amounts, it doesn’t seem to matter, as Danny can store it within himself and not seem to be harmed. Going even further, he can use the stored energy to increase the power of his own attacks.

11 HE CAN HYPNOTIZE OPPONENTS DURING BATTLE

Batman enjoys slinking away back into the night while in the middle of a conversation, leaving whoever he’s with, usually Commissioner Gordon, dumbfounded. Though it’s certainly rude to say the least, the only way Batman should be able to sneak away like that is performing some low-level hypnotism. When Iron Fist resorts to hypnotism, he holds nothing back. These days, he doesn’t just have the Iron Fist at his disposal, but he can wield the hypnotic fist technique it does exactly what the name implies.

After Danny read The Book of the Iron Fist, he experimented with different techniques that relied on illusions and magic. Incorporating this new fist into his fighting style, Danny can hypnotize an opponent mid-fight, tricking them with illusions and giving him an advantage whenever he wants it. Messing with an enemy’s head is a sure way to win a fight.

10 HE'S MORE DURABLE

Batman’s gone through a wide range of outfits. Some have been made out of cloth, while others were created to withstand bullets and getting conked over the head. Iron Fist doesn’t need any protective outfitting. The superhero martial artist can withstand incredible punishment and still keep going. In Brian Michael Bendis’ The Defenders, Iron Fist is fighting the superpowered Diamondback and during the fight, Diamondback gets the upper hand and brings Iron Fist over his knee, effectively breaking his back.

Where have we seen that before? The only difference is that after a second or two of reprieve, Iron Fist is back in the fight and utterly crushes the villain. Additionally, Danny can generate a chi shield, using his aura to slow or stop projectiles and attacks before they reach him. So when you combine his defense with his self-healing, it’s nearly impossible to permanently hurt him.

9 POSSESSES ENHANCED RELFEXES

It’s one thing to be able to leap over a thug or two with a perfectly timed backflip, it’s another thing to leap 20 feet in the air while doing the same thing. Even without the Iron Fist or any of his other cool powers, Iron Fist has been trained to the point where his natural conditioning is far above peak human levels.

He can run at nearly 40mph for literally hours without breaking a sweat, focusing his chi so he can run and move for even longer than that. While superheroes like Captain America have a Super Solider serum that keeps him tireless, Iron Fist’s internal abilities allow him to perform greater feats. His reflexes are also so refined he can dodge and catch bullets, not to mention Batarangs, and still look cool while doing it.

8 HE HAS HEIGHTENED SENSES

Heightened senses have become all the rage in recent days, what with heroes like Daredevil and Wolverine garnering tremendous popularity. Yet you don’t need to be a mutant or have suffered horrible physical trauma in order to share similar abilities. All of Iron Fist’s senses are boosted well past ordinary limits due to the harnessing of his chi.

Not only does he have super-hearing, which allows him to hear sweat roll off someone’s face, and eyesight bordering on telescopic vision, but he can also sniff an opponent out. That’s correct, it doesn’t matter where you hide, Batman, Iron Fist can smell you! Say goodbye to smoke grenades and hiding in the dark; it’s all going to prove useless in the face of Iron Fist’s super senses.

7 HE'S K'UN-LUN'S CHAMPION

Danny Rand is the protector of the mystical city of K’un-Lun. What does that mean? It means he’s endured grueling trials, one of which included fighting a freaking dragon, just to have the right to be the city’s protector. Danny wasn’t the first Iron Fist, and he probably won’t be the last. He comes from a long line of Iron Fists, each with their own unique skills and abilities.

Becoming the Iron Fist allows Danny to tap into all the previous Iron Fists’ abilities, and he can transfer his consciousness in and out of people. Batman was never the protector of anything, except Gotham City, and the people barely tolerate him, much less go about giving him fancy titles. At the end of the day, to become K’un-Lun’s champion means you have to defeat the best fighters in the city first; those same fighters are the best in the world.

6 COMPLETE CONTROL OF HIS NERVOUS SYSTEM

Controlling one’s body is critical if you’re going out to punch crime in the face. What’s even better than making sure you don’t kill someone is being able to control your own body so they don’t kill you. Batman has trained his body to be the pinnacle of human achievement and he’s trained himself to withstand insane punishment.

While the Dark Knight has even trained his heart to slow down so he can mimic death, Iron Fist’s ability to control his nervous system goes beyond that. Even though it’s not something Iron Fist does often since it requires tremendous energy and self-control, he can turn off all the pain receptors in his body, letting him keep going in a fight until he wins. If it’s a fight to the death, then Iron Fist won’t go down -- his body won’t know how to.

5 CAN TRAVEL BETWEEN DIMENSIONS

How do you compete with Batman’s patented intimidating stare? Well if it scares you that much, just go hop into another dimension. One of Iron Fist’s coolest and least well-known powers is his ability to travel between dimensions at will. Other heroes like Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and even Batman have performed similar feats, but they all require incredible technology or ancient artifacts; Iron Fist only needs chi. Oh wait, he has plenty of chi!

Danny doesn’t just have the ability to travel time and space at the drop of a hat, he can banish people to other dimensions too! If it comes to it, what’s to prevent Iron Fist from sending Batman to another plane of existence? The short answer is nothing. If things take a turn for the worse for Danny, he can also flee the scene too via some casual dimension hopping.

4 HE'S BEATEN THE X-MEN

Iron Fist has beaten the X-Men…by himself. He’s taken on Colossus, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler all at the same time and come out the other side victorious. It’s nearly impossible to stress how impressive this is. Captain America, one of the greatest warriors in the Marvel Universe can barely handle Wolverine and Spider-Man also struggles against Wolverine, though he’s taken on the X-Men too.

When Batman fought, and eventually defeated, Captain America in the DC versus Marvel, it took the Caped Crusader literally hours to beat him. Iron Fist can do everything Cap can and more; he’s taken on the X-Men when even the world’s most powerful villains cannot. In short, if Iron Fist can defeat the likes of Wolverine and Colossus with little to no effort, then with no prep time or gadgets, it’s not unreasonable to believe Batman would fall in short order.

3 CAN HANDLE EXTREME TEMPERATURES AND ENVIRONMENTS

Batman prides himself in preparing for every eventuality, including harsh environments and temperatures. The Dark Knight is totally comfortable with fighting at the bottom of the ocean or dragging himself to the Arctic to engage in superhero fisticuffs. Yet whereas Batman has to actively prepare for harsh environments, Danny Rand does not. He’s totally cool hoofing it through the Himalayas with nothing but his green spandex as protection.

Through some concentration, cold and hot are just words to him; temperature means little to the Iron Fist. He can go for hours in conditions that would kill the average person in minutes. Willing the discomfort away, Danny’s ability to also self-heal means he’ll keep going, no matter the conditions or the location Batman tries to set the stage for their, brief, encounter.

2 CAN TRANSFORM A BUILDING INTO A WEAPON

Okay, say Batman’s had enough of chi and getting punched through walls. Assuming he’s still alive (which he isn’t), we’ve seen the Caped Crusader break out giant fighting machines to pilot while he punches bad guys through the ground. He did it against the Court of Owls, he’s piloted his Justice League buster; he has a mech for nearly every opponent. What about Iron Fist? If Danny Rand wants to make the fight more unfair he can create a living martial arts monolith out of a building.

Transforming the building’s very structure and channeling his chi through its frame, Danny has focused his energies so he can summon the Iron Fist and have it be the size of a skyscraper. It’s how he’s defeated gods, like towards the end of writer Kaare Andrews’ run on the character. It’s frighteningly impressive and speaks volumes to the power Iron Fist can muster.

1 HE POSSESS THE IRON FIST

Does Batman possess the Iron Fist? No, he does not. Danny Rand is a remarkable martial artist, one of the, if not the, best in the Marvel Universe. He’s trained for over a decade in the most grueling martial arts, and while Batman has done the same, Batman did not earn a flaming chi-fist. The Iron Fist is an incredibly powerful weapon. One hit and the fight is more than over.

With the Iron Fist, Danny has punched out literal gods, taken down a S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier with one strike, and has even punched a train off the tracks. The Iron Fist doesn’t just have ridiculous striking power, enough to send Batman to the moon, but it can block bladed weapons and punch through anything in the Dark Knight’s utility belt. Frankly, Danny is a good enough fighter to land one blow, and one blow is all he needs.

Do you agree that Iron Fist could thrash Batman? Let us know in the comments!