Manhattan's Greatest

With the Defenders on the Horizon, It’s Time for Iron Fist to Come Out of the Shadows. Showrunner Scott Buck, Head of Marvel Tv Jeph Loeb and Actor Finn Jones Talk Kung Fu Fighting, Crossovers and Bringing Danny Rand to Life…

- Poppy-Jay Palmer

NETFLIX HAS BEEN BUSY. IN JUST UNDER TWO YEARS, THE STREAMING SERVICE HAS SOMEHOW MANAGED TO ADD WHAT IS EFFECTIVELY A WHOLE NEW universe on to the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which was huge already. And spanning across two seasons of Daredevil, and one each of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and the upcoming Iron Fist, there’s no stopping it. Especially when there’s also a super-powered team-up as big and awesome as the Defenders series on the cards very soon.

But how do you make your fourth and final superhero, in this case martial artist Danny Rand – also known as Iron Fist, stand out from the crowd when everyone is busy getting hyped for the epic superhero collaboration that’s waiting over the horizon? We speak to Iron Fist showrunner Scott Buck and Head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb about what to expect from Netflix’s mysterious new Defender, and how he’s set to make waves in New York.

“We always begin with the person, not the powers,” Loeb says of the Defenders’ empire. He found Danny Rand’s story particularly compelling. As a rich kid living in the financial district of New York, Rand had everything taken away from him when his parents died and he became lost on the other side of the world. Believed to be dead, Rand causes some raised eyebrows when he shows up in New York 15 years later, very much not.