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Marvel’s Iron Fist won’t land on Netflix until March 17th, but star Finn Jones is already getting into fights…on twitter. Over the weekend, Jones got into a heated exchange over diversity and white privilege with Asyiqin Haron, creative director of Geeks of Color. Then, he announced, via a press release to Deadline (which he’s already tweeted a link to) that he was taking a break from twitter. Yes, he’s already back on twitter. Let’s break this all down!
When Marvel and Netflix announced that Finn Jones was playing Danny Rand, aka Iron Fist, it caused a lot of consternation among more progressive comic book fans. The comic book character is a wealthy white man who grows up in a mystical Asian paradise where he learns secret martial arts. Then, he returns to New York City as an adult and proceeds to become a superhero. The show follows this same trajectory and that’s an issue for some people who see the Iron Fist character as a symbol of white culture plundering Asian culture for its own use. Before Jones was cast, there was a huge online push from the fandom to cast an Asian-American or Asian actor in the role to make the Marvel Universe more inclusive. Fans got even more upset when it was revealed that Lewis Tan was actually up for the part, but was instead cast as a villain. So that’s the background.
Over the weekend, Jones retweeted a speech from Anglo-Asian actor Riz Ahmed on the importance of diversity and representation. And that’s when things got sticky.
Haron (whose tweets are currently protected) called Jones out and Jones immediately engaged.
Haron answered, “I don’t doubt it. I’m just saying an Asian Danny Rand could’ve made an even bigger impact but sure. Do you.”
Jones immediately deleted his account and issued a long statement to Deadline. In it, he explained, “I’m currently in the middle of filming [Marvel’s The Defenders] and I need to stay focused on bringing to life this character without judgment, so I decided to remove myself from twitter for the time being.”
However, Jones has already returned to twitter. Since the dust up, he’s tweeted about music, reconnecting with your chi, and Deadline’s blow-by-blow account of the weekend’s events.
Meanwhile, the official Twitter account for Marvel’s Iron Fist now features Jones’s co-star Jessica Henwick in its header.
Marvel’s Iron Fist debuts on Netflix on March 17, 2017. Look for our review of the first six episodes tomorrow.
