“Lifeless,” “Offensive,” And “Laughably Bad”: Critics Are Savaging ‘Marvel’s Iron Fist’

Netflix‘s latest addition to The Defenders family, Marvel’s Iron Fist, isn’t set to hit the streaming platform until March 17 – but everyone already seems to hate it. In fairness, the controversy surrounding the show over the last few months did not exactly set it up for success, and leading man Finn Jones’ weekend Twitter row over racial representation and diversity probably kicked off  things on the wrong foot. Regardless, a slew of reviews (including our own, which likens the series to NBC‘s glorious hate-watch Smash) hit the web today, and the consensus is pretty grim. Shared opinions seem to include the Jones’ blandness, poor storytelling, and racial insensitivity:

“Good luck, bingers: Getting through two episodes was a challenge.” 

Maureen Ryan of Variety goes on in her review to criticize the show’s use of racial appropriation, predictable storytelling, and wonders why an actor of Asian descent wasn’t the star of Iron Fist. Jones is so “bland and charisma-free” that it makes each scene difficult to sit through, and the supporting roles are unfortunately underwritten. “…the truth is, Iron Fist is as disposable as aluminum foil”, she concludes.

“‘Iron Fist’ is a boring, confused, offensive mess of a series.” 

The Verge‘s review of the show is not much kinder: “As far as diversity, representation, and appropriation go, the series fails in a number of ways,” Kwame Opam writes. Opinions on Jones’ bland screen presence and the show’s lazy storytelling seem to run rampant here. While the show’s early backlash didn’t have to be a death sentence, it inevitably turned out to be.

“None of the conflicts are well-articulated, and none of the pacing choices make any sense.”

Uproxx‘s Alan Sepinwall expresses his disappointment in Netflix’s “first complete misfire” of its Marvel series, praising the complexity of Iron Fist‘s predecessors like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage and wondering where this show failed. The combination of a lame fighting scenes, bizarre pacing, and a lackluster leading man results in a total flop: “why would anyone but the most devout, masochistic Marvel completist want to watch?”

“I’m not surprised that ‘Iron Fist’ isn’t a comedy. I’m surprised that it’s so bad. And it is laughably bad.”

Marvel’s winning Netflix streak is over, says Polygon‘s Susana Polo. While she admits that every team needs a lighthearted member (especially a team with members like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Matt Murdock), Iron Fist‘s Danny Rand has no place in this group. The portrayal of Asian cultures and Asian-Americans are problematic in every episode, but the fact that the rest of the show is just as terrible as its racial ignorance makes it even more terrible.

And finally, The Hollywood Reporter gifted us with this gem:

“Rather than being a man who found enlightenment through tragedy and disassociation from his upbringing, Danny comes across like a spoiled frat boy who took a comparative religion class and spends a few months picking up coeds by telling them he’s totally into meditation and tai chi now.”

Twitter users also took to interwebs to slam the series, sharing the same grievances as critics.

Maybe Finn Jones should have stayed off Twitter after all.