If Iron Man is one of the best things to happen to live-action superhero adaptations, then Iron Fist is one of the worst. Even so, Marvel’s committed to the character, and they’re giving him a second season.
Here’s the good news
The show will have a new guy in charge of everything behind the scenes. Scott Buck is stepping down to be replaced by Raven Metzner, an executive producer on the fan-favorite Sleepy Hollow.
The first season of Iron Fist didn’t measure up to the other shows in Marvel’s Netflix library, giving us a season that I called “obligatory” when it premiered. A show that exists only because it has to for the upcoming Defenders show to exist. It had lackluster action – bad for a Marvel show, worse for a kung fu-heavy one – as well as some bumpy characters and some of the worst writing we’ve seen in a Marvel property in some time.
But what about the bad news?
I’m glad Iron Fist is getting a second chance, and I’m glad Marvel is trying out a new showrunner to see if the character can go in a new direction.
But did they have to pick Metzner, of all people?
Metzner’s last interaction with a Marvel property was back before the birth of the MCU, when he wrote Elektra, a spin-off of the critically-panned Daredevil movie starring Ben Affleck. Elektra wasn’t any better, and is better described as a Jennifer Garner vehicle than as a superhero movie.
It’s admittedly been over a decade since that ill-advised flick, and 10 years is a long time to learn from one’s mistakes. I’m hoping time has been kind to Metzner and that we get a better product this time around.
There’s no release date or window yet for Iron Fist season 2, but Iron Fist appears next in Marvel’s Defenders on August 18, 2017.