The fourth series in the Netflix/Marvel super hero installment is the Iron Fist. The plan is to introduce all four characters that make up the super hero group, The Defenders (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and the Iron Fist). The Iron Fist’s origin story begins with an airplane crash that kills Danny Rand’s mom and dad. Danny is the only survivor however the world believes him to be dead. Fifteen years later, Danny reappears in New York city apparently under the impression that he will be able to pick up where his parents left off however he quickly finds out that his dad’s company is now being run by his childhood friends, a brother and sister trio, Ward and Joy.

Initially Ward and Joy rebuke the idea that Danny is in fact, the real Danny Rand. They go so far as to have him committed. The fact that he is carrying a fake passport and explains his disappearance away as being trapped in a different dimension that he can only leave every 15 years.

Eventually Danny builds up enough chi and break out of the mental hospital with the help of…his iron fist. Danny has spent the last 15 years training with warrior monks to defeat a villainous gang named the Hand. (We are introduced to the Hand in the Daredevil series). Danny is now an expert marital arts specialist and can make his fist light up and punch through really hard things (including people).

Danny also struggles to find his way while working at his dad’s old company. Danny is the majority shareholder so he carries the weight when it comes to most of the company’s decisions however he clearly doesn’t have business sense and is quickly making enemies on the company’s board.

The show is hit or miss. Some of the episodes are really interesting however Danny sometimes acts like a teenager in a grown man’s body and it’s hard to see some of the amateurish things that he does. Also, for him to be a trained kung fu master, he gets beat up pretty often and his moves often lack precision and look choppy.

Pros

-great supporting cast
-interesting storyline

Cons

-lackluster fight scenes
-less than believable main character

The first series has 13 episodes on Netflix.