Netflix has released a promo for "Marvel's Iron Fist" that poses a deceptively complex question: Who is Danny Rand?
The teaser sets up the fractured nature of Rand’s character, first showing him orphaned in a plane crash over a snow-covered mountain pass, then as a monk trained in the ways of the martial arts and finally as a billionaire and living weapon newly returned to the crime-riddled New York City depicted in Netflix’s “Daredevil,” “Jessica Jones” and “Luke Cage.”
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The video also showcases the return of “Daredevil” antagonist Madame Gao, who in that series operated a drug-trafficking ring with business ties to Wilson Fisk's criminal empire. She was depicted in "Daredevil" as possessing superhuman strength like Rand’s when she struck Matt Murdock in the chest, knocking him back several feet. Rosario Dawson’s Claire Temple also makes a cameo in the promo, seemingly as confused as everyone else about the identity of the final Defender.
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Of course, the teaser also shows Rand using his martial-arts skills and lethal, glowing iron fists to wreck walls, opponents and, at one point, an entire room.
Debuting March 17 on Netflix, “Iron Fist” stars Finn Jones, Jessica Henwick, David Wenham, Jessica Stroup, Tom Pelphrey and Rosario Dawson.