Now That ‘Iron Fist’ Is on Disney+, You Should Maybe Try Season 2

Iron Fist has a bad reputation — a deservedly bad reputation. Audiences turned on Iron Fist even before the series debuted on Netflix due to the show’s premise (rich white guy becomes the best martial artist in a mystical kung fu land) and comments made by series lead Finn Jones. And, as if things couldn’t get any worse for clueless Danny Rand and his glowy fist, his show debuted and it was bad. It was very bad. If Iron Fist wasn’t going to update its 50-year-old titular character to fit with modern times, they could have at the very least given us some kick-ass fight scenes. They very much did not. Now that all of Marvel’s old Netflix series have been given a new life on Disney+, it’s as good a time as any to reevaluate what all of those gritty superhero shows did well — and that includes Iron Fist. I’m here to tell you that of all the seasons of all of these Defender shows, it’s actually Iron Fist Season 2 that deserves a closer look.

Don’t get me wrong: everything wrong with the DNA of the show is still wrong in Season 2. Danny Rand is still played by Finn Jones, a guy who is way better in period piece comedies than he is as a noble martial artist. Hell, Finn Jones acted more like Danny Rand on Iron Fist’s press tour than he ever did on Iron Fist; yes, Marvel Comics’ Danny Rand is a screw-up goober who constantly says the wrong things and is a general disaster… but he’s rich, so he still has it better than Daredevil. The good thing is that Iron Fist Season 2 did what it could to fix one of the biggest problems with Season 1: Season 2 is not an Iron Fist show.

Iron Fist Season 2 is actually The Colleen Wing and Misty Knight Show. This is why Season 2 is worth revisiting (or visiting, period). Over half of the season is fully a buddy crime drama starring the phenomenal Jessica Henwick as Wing and Simone Missick as Knight. They take the lead while Danny is perpetually bruised and/or out cold, and they routinely prove themselves to be incredibly capable leads. Seriously — the entire superhero genre desperately needs more of Misty Knight’s DGAF energy. Simone Missick walks into the season a few episodes in and immediately draws all eyes towards her. How could she not? She’s a headstrong detective with a smart mouth, cocky swagger, and robotic arm. Not to be outdone in her own show, Henwick’s Colleen Wing levels up considerably in Season 2, kicking way more ass than Iron Fist and growing even more as a character. Where her story goes… well, it’s exactly what fans wanted to see happen.

The other improvement? Alice mf’ing Eve as the season’s villain, the terrifying Mary Walker (a.k.a. Typhoid Mary, for those of you who read Daredevil comics). The Netflix shows gave us a few standout villains, like Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, David Tennant’s Kilgrave, and Alfre Woodard’s Mariah Dillard. Alice Eve is up there with the best of the best, and it is a shame that people (understandably!) said “pass” when Netflix suggested they watch Iron Fist Season 2 back in fall 2018. As Walker, Eve gets to play two dramatically different sides of the same person. There’s sweet, meek Mary, the new girl in town who Danny crushes on. And then there’s Walker, a ruthless and unpredictable mercenary whose weapon of choice is a rusty machete. Watching Eve pivot from Mary to Walker is electric every single time, and watching her completely cut loose and wreck everyone within machete’s reach is so satisfying. Eve plays her as chaos personified, and she’s clearly enjoying it.

And that’s the overall vibe of Iron Fist Season 2: the actors are living. Every single fight scene gives you an adrenaline rush as the actors — and, honestly, the characters! — sink their teeth into every move. The way Colleen smirks during fights, clearly having a blast — ! The way Misty is just so hilariously over it every single time these damn bad guys strike a battle pose — ! Every fight feels so immediate and grounded, which is partly because the combatants are constantly pulling from their environment to find weapons to beat each other with. The kitchen fight in the premiere remains one of the best fights in the entire Defenders canon.

I know Iron Fist is bad, and I know Iron Fist Season 1 is bad. You very much do not have to watch that season of television. But Season 2? A season that is actually 3 episodes shorter than all of its peers? A season that gives you Misty Knight and Colleen Wing versus Typhoid Mary? That’s a season worth checking out. Just make sure you alter your parental controls first so you can find this battering ram of a season on Disney+.

Stream Iron Fist on Disney+