People have been really responding to Marvel's recent Netflix shows, with DAREDEVIL, JESSICA JONES, and LUKE CAGE all being smash successes. Now, we've come to the final member of the DEFENDERS team, which is Danny Rand, better known as IRON FIST. I would say he's probably the hardest to adapt out of the four, with his overt "mystic Orientalism" backstory, and his more outlandish costume (currently the only member to sport one other than Daredevil).
However, we might not even see the costume on the show at all (hell, even DAREDEVIL wore his costume by the end of the first season). Here's what showrunner Scott Buck said about the decision:
There was no good reason we could imagine to put Danny Rand in a costume. Because Danny Rand is still discovering who he is as a hero and where he is going to be, so he’s not yet ready to put on a mask or a costume… At the same time he is someone who is rather well known as a billionaire, so he can’t necessarily go out in public and do the things he does without being recognized. It does become an issue for the character…We’re trying to keep things extremely grounded and real and tell our stories through characters. So the mystical aspect is something we like to hint at, the idea that there is something bigger and larger out there, but we don’t delve into it all that deeply.
I mean, I guess with a lot of studios trying to "ground" their superhero stories, I suppose it's cool that Rand's fist glows and he has a dragon tattoo at all. Sometimes we gotta take what we can get. Hopefully he'll be sporting his green-and-yellow leotards in THE DEFENDERS series, especially if Finn Jones if filling them out…
Meanwhile, IRON FIST will punch dragons and stream on Netflix March 17th, 2017.