Defenders: Iron Fist's Fighting Improved

CBR

Defenders: Finn Jones Promises ‘Slicker’ Iron Fist Fight Choreography

By Geoff Miller

Published Aug 18, 2017

Iron Fist star Finn Jones explains how The Defenders will upgrade Danny Rand's onscreen martial arts prowess.

In addition to lumbering pacing and lack of characterization, one major sticking point that viewers had with Iron Fist was its plodding action sequences. The issue would be glaring in any modern superhero program, but they were especially disconcerting considering Danny Rand's history as an unabashed martial arts expert in the pages of Marvel Comics.

According to lead actor Finn Jones, dully put together fight scenes will be a thing of the past when Iron Fist returns for The Defenders, Netflix's ensemble series that will see the likes of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage all fighting alongside him to tackle a threat necessitating their combined forces.

"I think the choreography is a lot slicker and I think the way it's been shot and edited is definitely a lot more cohesive [in The Defenders]," Jones explained to IGN. "I also think, just because I went from shooting six months of Iron Fist to immediately going on to shoot Defenders, just by nature of having all of that practice leading up to Defenders, the choreography felt a lot more grounded. It was a different choreography team and the way it was shot was a little bit different as well, and I think that definitely helped sell the fight scenes a lot better. And on top of that, I was more used to picking up choreography and the fluidity of the movements."

Fans of the character can only hope that any potential improvements made during the filming of the crossover will continue during the second season of Iron Fist, which was announced during Comic-Con International in San Diego last month. The series' sophomore season will return with new showrunner Raven Metzner (Sleepy Hollow, Elektra) steering the ship after previous helmer Scott Buck had to bow out due to scheduling conflicts with Marvel's upcoming Inhumans series.

Arriving Aug. 18 on Netflix as an eight-episode miniseries, The Defenders stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, Finn Jones as Danny Rand, Elodie Yung as Elektra Natchios, Sigourney Weaver as Alexandra, Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse, Simone Missick as Misty Knight, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth, Scott Glenn as Stick, Rachael Taylor as Trish Walker, Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple and Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing.