The Defenders is an 8 part miniseries that will air on Netflix. The series will bring together several superheroes from the MCU including Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist. The four superheroes will be combining their powers to fight The Hand.
Iron Fist
The last piece of the puzzle for Marvel’s upcoming team up series has finally arrived. Iron First follows Danny Rand (Finn Jones), who’s been gone for 15 years after a plane accident. The Rand family’s plane crashed near the Himalayas, where he was rescued by Monks. Subsequently, Danny was taken to K’un Lun, one of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven. He emerged as champion and earned the title of the Iron Fist, “Guardian of the Gate, Destroyer of the Hand”.
Danny’s Return
His surprise return to Rand Enterprises is met with mixed reactions of hostility. We then find out that the Meachum family has taken over the operation of Rand Enterprises. In Danny’s search for Harold Meachum, his father’s business partner, Danny discovers Harold has been dead for 13 years and his children are now in charge of Rand Enterprises. Those children are Ward (Tom Pelphrey) and Joy Meachum (Jessica Stroup).
Danny’s childhood friends are skeptical that a homeless looking man who claims to be the heir to the Rand estate is telling the truth. Danny breaks into Joy’s house to try and get through to her. Joy seems receptive to Danny’s story but ends up drugging him before he wakes up at a mental hospital. Once the drugs wear off, Danny is able to call upon the power of the Iron Fist in order to escape from the hospital. After escaping the hospital, Danny seeks refuge in Colleen Wing’s (Jessica Henwick) dojo. A martial arts instructor he met during his time on the streets. Colleen’s name was briefly seen in the Luke Cage finale when Rosario Dawson’s character, Claire Temple is shown taking a phone number from a poster for self-defense lessons.
Jessica Jones Cross Over
During a visit to his parents’ graves, Danny discovers fresh flowers, sent by a former Rand Enterprises intern, Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss) who we might remember from Jessica Jones. Hogarth offers to help Danny prove he is who he says he is and reclaim Rand Enterprises. Jeri is able to prove Rand’s identity with a thumbprint at the bottom of a vase Danny gave Joy when they were kids.
The Hand
During Harold Meachum’s struggle with cancer, The Hand approached him with a new lease on life in exchange for loyalty. We eventually find out Harold is forced to stay in hiding by orders of Madame Gao (Wai Ching Ho) first introduced in Daredevil. The Hand has been using Rand Enterprises to distribute a new form of heroin designed so the human body can’t build a tolerance to it. While investigating a recently acquired pier by Rand Enterprises with the help of Colleen, Danny finds Radovan, a chemist being held against his will to produce the drug while The Hand holds his daughter captive. The chemist is wounded during a fight which forces Colleen and Danny to enlist the help of, Claire to help heal him.
Danny receives an invitation from The Hand where he wagers the exchange of Radovan’s daughter. Danny is able to beat Madame Gao’s challenges before she reveals to him that she’s met Danny’s father and what she knows about the Iron Fist. Radovan’s condition worsens and is taken to the hospital by Claire and Colleen, where he’s abducted by the hand. During Radovan’s rescue attempt he reveals that Madame Gao has departed for Anzhou, a city in China. Anzhou was the place the Rand plane was headed before crashing.
The Death of Danny’s Parents
Concluding that Madame Gao killed his parents, Danny decides to go after her, Colleen and Claire tag along. Once in China, the three of them infiltrate a facility where they discover that The Hand uses poison on their weapons, the same poison that killed the pilots in Danny’s plane. Rand Spares Madame Gao’s life and they make their way back to the Dojo, where we learn Colleen was infected with poison. She instructs Claire to call for her Sensei Bakuto (Ramón Rodriguez) for help. Bakuto teaches Danny about the healing powers of the Iron Fist.
Shortly after we discover that Bakuto is the leader of a separate faction of The Hand. A faction that Colleen has been a part of this whole time. Learning of Colleen’s deceit causes Danny’s emotions to run rampant and for him to question everything he knows. This causes him to lose the ability to summon the Iron Fist. Davos(Sacha Dhawan), Danny’s best friend from K’un Lun, shows up to bring him back to K’un Lun as the gate has opened once more and the Iron Fist is not there to protect it. Danny escapes Bakuto’s Hand faction with the help of Davos.
Colleen Wing ends up leaving The Hand and teams up with Danny and Davos to take down Bakuto. Davos mentions repeatedly the impending consequences of Danny’s actions. Harold frames Danny for the drugs distributed by Rand and is also the person responsible for killing Danny’s parents. Danny and Colleen are now wanted by the DEA while Ward attempts to clear their name.
Rooftop Face Off
Harold and Danny face off on the rooftop of Rand Enterprises where he’s eventually shot and killed by Ward. Having learned that Harold is immortal, they cremate his body before he is able to come back to life. In the final moments, we see that Davos and Joy have teamed up to take down Danny. While at the same time we notice that Madame Gao eavesdrops on the conversation.
Things are not going well for our leading man. Ward has taken over the company. Danny and Colleen make their way back to K’un Lun, only to find dead Hand assassins and the gate closed.
How Does Iron Fist Fit in The Defenders?
The Iron Fist still has much to accomplish. The hand is still at large, and because of that Danny has a role to play. As the Destroyer of the Hand, Danny will join the rest of The Defenders to take down Sigourney Weaver’s Alexandra. Danny’s inexperienced persona and young age are likely to stand out amongst the cynicism of the other three.
The Defenders Debut
Netflix has done a great job bringing the MCU to the small screen with Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones. It will be interesting to see if they can bring those characters and their unique personalities together in The Defenders. The 8 part miniseries will be available to stream on Netflix on August 18th.
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Stay tuned for the rest of our The Defenders preseason coverage.
The Defenders Preseason: Jessica Jones
The Defenders Preseason: Daredevil
The Defenders Preseason: Luke Cage(coming soon)
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