Marvel’s Iron Fist debuted a full-length trailer Tuesday morning and the internet loves it, just not in the way you would think. The hot debate over the show’s “white savior” narrative has left Marvel’s final solo series before the crossover series The Defenders to the wolves, aka Twitter, and the trailer has only kept the ridicule going.
While a lot of comic book fans are still looking forward to seeing Iron Fist come alive in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the rest are roasting Danny Rand like he’s every insufferable college hippie playing acoustic covers of Phish. Meanwhile, Claire Temple, the badass Hell’s Kitchen nurse and connective thread for the entire Marvel Netflix-verse, has become the spirit animal for everyone who has had enough of seeing white dudes try something “exotic.”
The original Iron Fist, created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane during the kung fu movie explosion in the ‘70s, is billionaire heir Danny Rand who returned home to New York after studying martial arts in the mountains of K’un-Lun. The “Iron Fist” is an ancient power handed down from generation to generation, and throughout his time in Marvel Comics, Danny has been its sole possessor. While a Caucasian Danny Rand is accurate to the comics, fans feel it’s outdated, and the Netflix series represents a wasted opportunity for diversity.
Thus, all the jokes for the trailer.
This stock photo is going to be a lot of people when Iron Fist debuts.
There’s a lot of “Iron Fist looks like” jokes, ranging from Will Ferrelll to Justin Timberlake.
Seriously.
We are all Claire Temple.
The “college scumbag” archetype really works for Danny Rand.
Oh there are definitely people of color in Iron Fist. And they look way more interesting than Danny.
Come on, Danny.
Some hot comic book trivia to remember.
A few don’t even have jokes, just criticisms backed up by knowledge of sociocultural factors that drove the entertainment industry for decades.
And rest assured people had issues for this stuff even back then.
It also doesn’t help that a portion of fans aren’t feeling Finn Jones.
Asian-American actor and martial artist Lewis Tan auditioned for Iron Fist but didn’t get the part. Instead, he plays a villain in the series, but fans are still wishing he were the lead.
Some are still excited, or at least tolerant of, for Iron Fist, but the show is also making it too easy.
Way easy.
At least it tried?
So much for authenticity.
And for many, they’re just not pulling any — ahem, punches.
But even still, there are just as many on Twitter who saw the trailer and will be binge-watching when it finally hits Netflix.
And no matter what, it still has Claire Temple.
Marvel’s Iron Fist premieres March 17 on Netflix.
