Finn Jones On How Danny Rand Fits In With The Defenders

Since Daredevil appeared on Netflix in 2015 in all his deadly glory, Marvel fans have been itching to see some more of the street-level superheroes; they so often slip the public’s attention while the Avengers are battling aliens and megalomaniac robots. Since then however, we’ve not only seen Daredevil season 2, but the introductions of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, both of whom now have their own series. Once Finn Jones’ Danny Rand backflips into our screens in March in his Iron Fist series, the Defenders roundup will be complete, and the team will have to band together to fight the newest threat to their city.

Danny Rand is portrayed by Game of Thrones alumnus Finn Jones, who asserts that a prior knowledge of his Marvel character’s comic book storyline isn’t necessary to enjoy the TV adaptation. He spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the different take on the initially ostracised fighter:

“This is my version of Iron Fist, this is [showrunner] Scott Buck’s and Netflix’s and Marvel TV’s version of Iron Fist. We are dealing with an entity that is in and of itself.”

It seems Danny starts off the series as rather disillusioned about his home and identity. Finn Jones continues:

“He’s a child trapped in a man’s body. He’s an incredibly fierce warrior, but he doesn’t know who he is. Iron Fist is like Danny in his adolescence, and The Defenders is like Danny taking responsibility and moving forward with his purpose. He’s craving desperately for family, for help, for guidance, for people to learn from, and for a team. But because of what happens in Iron Fist, he’s very untrusting. It’s really his way or no way.”

The Defenders will unite Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist in what has been revealed to be a rather tense unification – at least at first. Finn Jones spoke at length to EW about the unique experience of transitioning from his own series to a shared stage, so to speak.

“It’s really fun doing that. I see it as kind of this journey where Iron Fist and The Defenders is like the complete first season of Danny’s journey. It’s really nice to play it back-to-back because Danny does go through this awesome huge arc, so the end of Iron Fist is like the halfway point… In The Defenders, he’s got a grasp of who he is and he’s trying to do something with it. It’s great to play that consistently over the year and not have that broken up.”

Finn  Jones also mentioned working with Mike Colter, who plays Luke Cage. Luke is one half of the Heroes for Hire partnership in the comics, the other member being Danny Rand. The two have a long history of friendship in the comic book world, which will translate to screen in an organic way, according to Jones:

“I love Mike, he’s so sweet. We’re working together really well, which is f***ing cool. So far all of our stuff has been like, “Whoa!” … It’s a really big thing among the fan base, and that aspect is coming through really well. The great thing about the comic books is they’re fantastic but they’re — and I don’t want to say two-dimensional — they’re comic books, and what we’re doing is we’re making more fleshed-out characters who have real problems with the world. There’s more to Danny and Luke’s characters and what they can bring to each other than the comic books ever came upon.”

It’s evident that every kind of fan of the Defenders will have something to look forward to in this new series, as well as Finn Jones’s solo Iron Fist series. Read the full interview with Finn Jones at EW.com.

Iron Fist will be released on Netflix on March 17^th. The Defenders will be released later this year.

Source: EW.com