Rumor: Marvel Developing New Live-Action ‘Iron Fist’ Project, Will Sideline Finn Jones’ Danny Rand In Favor Of Female Lead
In a rumor that, if true, would indicate the studio has learned absolutely nothing from the failure of their previous such attempts at pandering, a new internet whisper suggests that Marvel is working on a new live-action Iron Fist project set within their cinematic universe – but rather than Finn Jones’ incarnation of Danny Rand, the titular title will instead be held by a female lead.
RELATED RUMOR: Marvel Cinematic Universe To Introduce A Female Iron Fist In Upcoming ‘Eyes Of Wakanda’ Animated Series
As relayed by a number of outlets including The Hollywood Handle, Film Updates, and Daredevil Updates, word that Marvel was interested in revisiting the culture of K’un-Lun was first let slip to the public on January 27th courtesy of noted scooper Daniel ‘DanielRPK’ Richtman to his personal Patreon account.
Unfortunately for fans of the Living Weapon – and particularly for those who enjoyed the aforementioned Jones’ take on the character – Richtman followed-up this news of Iron Fist’s return by noting that, in typical Marvel Cinematic Universe fashion, rather than Danny Rand, said project is being developed in service of handing the mantle over to a brand-new female protagonist.
Further, the scooper noted that while this production decision means Jones’ Rand will no longer serve as the franchise’s resident Champion of K’un-Lun, it did not preclude the curly-haired hero from making future appearances in the MCU, whether in said Iron Fist project or elsewhere.
At the time of his scoop, Richtman did not provide any suggestion as to the potential identity of Danny’s female successor.
To this end, speculation suggests that should Marvel choose to try and keep some semblance of continuity between the original Iron Fist Netflix series and this new project – as they did with Daredevil and Daredevil: Born Again – a likely candidate would be the MCU’s version of Colleen Wing, as portrayed by Jessica Henwick, whose story ended with her having both inherited the power of Shao-Lao and beginning to use it in service of protecting New York City.
However, should the studio wish to introduce a ‘new’ character to fulfill this role, their source material offers up a number of potential and established options regarding the concept of a female Iron Fist, including the Living Weapon of 1,000,000 B.C. known as Fan Fei, the Chinese pirate queen Wu Ao-Shi, the one-time potential Phoenix host Fongji Wu, and Pei, a young K’un-Lun native who learned to wield the Fist after receiving training directly from Danny himself.
Notably, this is not the first rumor in recent months to suggest that Marvel may be looking to introduce a female Iron Fist to the MCU.
As previously alleged by scooper CatWeGetSomeToast, the studio’s upcoming Eyes of Wakanda animated series will feature Janora, a predecessor to Danny whose exploits lead her to cross paths with that of a Wakandan native by the name of Basha.
While Janora appears to be a wholly original character made for the series, given that Eyes of Wakanda, per its official log line, will tell the story of how “throughout Wakandan history, brave warriors have been tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous vibranium artifacts,” current speculation suggests that she may draw heavy inspiration from the aforementioned Fan Fei – especially given that she has been the most recent of those women listed to receive a significant editorial push from Marvel.
