Marvel's Iron Fist Casts Game of Thrones Alum in Lead Role

[JaredJones]

Marvel's Iron Fist Casts Game of Thrones Alum in Lead Role

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Marvel's 'Iron Fist' Netflix series has cast Finn Jones (aka Loras Tyrell) as its lead.

Netflix's Iron Fist has seen some ups and downs since it was first announced all the way back in 2013. For a while there, it seemed as if the series would be one of the rare Marvel properties to it was announced back in December [http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/content/now-iron-fist-rumored-be-cancelled-inhumans-cancellation-update#axzz41Ih5A2Ex] that Marvel would be moving ahead with an Iron Fist series, which would hit Netflix sometime after its other upcoming superhero show, Luke Cage, made his solo debut.

In fact, none other than Luke Cage himself (Mike Colter) WOULD IT BE THE RZA [http://www.screenjunkies.com/tv/tv-news/marvel-iron-fist-netflix-lead-actor-cast-3000948]?

The short answers to those questions, as it turns out, is no, sort of, and sadly no.

According to Variety [http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/iron-fist-finn-jones-netflix-series-marvel-1201715086/], Marvel has cast Finn Jones -- or as he's known to Game of Thrones fans, Ser Loras Tyrell -- in the titular role, following an audition that Guy Fieri would likely describe as "out of bounds."

It's a conventional, if not somewhat underwhelming casting choice considering that the character's father hailed from the city of K'un-L'un, whose inhabitants were widely depicted as Asian. At the same time, Marvel has had an almost flawless track record when it comes to casting their superheroes thus far, so if they were really that impressed by Jones, perhaps he truly is the best choice for the role.

No word yet on when Iron Fist is set to begin principle photography, but we'll keep you updated as information is made available.

Source: Variety [http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/iron-fist-finn-jones-netflix-series-marvel-1201715086/]

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[Remus]

So the Lord of Flowers is Iron Fist. Dunno what to really think about that. It certainly brings all those "fisting" jokes in the Avengers comics to a whole other level.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

It's a conventional, if not somewhat underwhelming casting choice considering the character's Asian roots.

Daniel Rand is white.

 

[DemomanHusband]

It's a conventional, if not somewhat underwhelming casting choice considering the character's Asian roots.

Daniel Rand is white.

Nah, but don't you get it? It's cultural appropriation for a white man to learn self defense techniques from anyone but his own kind. As we all know, only Asians (and, in this case, the descendants of aliens that live in a magical disappearing city that likes to pop up in the Himalayas every once in a while) are allowed to practice any form of martial arts.

 

[JaredJones]

It's a conventional, if not somewhat underwhelming casting choice considering the character's Asian roots.

Daniel Rand is white.

Nah, but don't you get it? It's cultural appropriation for a white man to learn self defense techniques from anyone but his own kind. As we all know, only Asians (and, in this case, the descendants of aliens that live in a magical disappearing city that likes to pop up in the Himalayas every once in awhile) are allowed to practice any form of martial arts.

From what I read, people seemed to be calling for an actor of Asian descent to portray Iron Fist, given that his father hailed from an area whose inhabitants were widely depicted as Asian.

http://thenerdsofcolor.org/2014/03/11/marvel-please-cast-an-asian-american-iron-fist/

http://comicsalliance.com/iron-fist-asian-american-or-white-savior/

In either case, I've edited the paragraph to better express this. (FWIW, I'm a Jiu-Jitsu and muay Thai practitioner who is also white.)

 

[DemomanHusband]

It's a conventional, if not somewhat underwhelming casting choice considering the character's Asian roots.

Daniel Rand is white.

Nah, but don't you get it? It's cultural appropriation for a white man to learn self defense techniques from anyone but his own kind. As we all know, only Asians (and, in this case, the descendants of aliens that live in a magical disappearing city that likes to pop up in the Himalayas every once in awhile) are allowed to practice any form of martial arts.

From what I read, people seemed to be calling for an actor of Asian descent to portray Iron Fist, given that his father hailed from an area whose inhabitants were widely depicted as Asian.

http://thenerdsofcolor.org/2014/03/11/marvel-please-cast-an-asian-american-iron-fist/

http://comicsalliance.com/iron-fist-asian-american-or-white-savior/

In either case, I've edited the paragraph to better express this. (FWIW, I'm a Jiu-Jitsu and muay Thai practitioner who is also white.)

Then you, sir, are appropriating culture! How rude.

In all seriousness, didn't Wendell Rand just get adopted by the natives of K'un-Lun? I could've sworn he was actually from New York.

Plus, the only image of Iron Fist's dad I could find was this

Spoiler: Here's hoping I formatted this correctly!

So I think it's safe to say Iron Fist being cast as a white dude is fairly in line with his roots.

 

[Comic Sans]

I've been seeing a lot of complaining about him being white. While I can get behind complaints about whitewashing in some things, this is not one of them. The character is white. If anything, making him Asian would be almost a hilarious stereotyping, saying that only Asian people can be martial artists. Pick your battles people. Learn about the character before you complain

 

[Wuvlycuddles]

I've been seeing a lot of complaining about him being white. While I can get behind complaints about whitewashing in some things, this is not one of them. The character is white. If anything, making him Asian would be almost a hilarious stereotyping, saying that only Asian people can be martial artists. Pick your battles people. Learn about the character before you complain

I have a horrible feeling some people won't be happy until the Greendale Human Being is cast in every role.

 

[UberPubert]

I have a horrible feeling some people won't be happy until the Greendale Human Being is cast in every role.

I think you could've just stopped at "some people won't be happy".

I wasn't really impressed with Finn in Game of Thrones, but I might be remembering things wrong or he just never got a lot of screentime. Oh well, I liked Daredevil so I guess I can give this a shot too.

 

[Souplex]

Snip

Snipped conversation about the "Mighty whitey" trope

The thing is, while the "Mighty Whitey" trope (White person joins foriegn culture, and is then the best at the thing that is distinctly of their culture) has some troubling history and implications, saying that only people of the race/culture that originated something can be the best at that thing is just as troubling.
Yes, I am white, and I am the greatest martial-artist ever to live, and that's okay. It's not racist for me to grab someone's heart out with my bare hands just because of my race.

 

[Gitty101]

Well, Daredevil and Jessica Jones were great, so I'll give this one a shot too. Not bothered about the casting choice.

 

[Gottesstrafe]

So the Lord of Flowers is Iron Fist. Dunno what to really think about that. It certainly brings all those "fisting" jokes in the Avengers comics to a whole other level.

I'd be more concerned with his ability to convincingly portray a martial artist. After all, he'd been stabbing Renly Baratheon for years without killing him.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

So the Lord of Flowers is Iron Fist. Dunno what to really think about that. It certainly brings all those "fisting" jokes in the Avengers comics to a whole other level.

I'd be more concerned with his ability to convincingly portray a martial artist. After all, he'd been stabbing Renly Baratheon for years without killing him.

Oh no you didn't! snaps fingers

OT; Lord of Flowers is now a kick ass Ninja, and Sansa Stark is on her way to being one of the Universes most destructive entities. Westeros is about to become a bit more interesting I think.

 

[GrumbleGrump]

I didn't even know Iron Fist was suppoused to be asian.

I didn't even know who the fuck Iron Fist is suppoused to be if I hadn't read Avengers Vs Xmen a while ago.

 

[happyninja42]

I didn't even know Iron Fist was suppoused to be asian.

I didn't even know who the fuck Iron Fist is suppoused to be if I hadn't read Avengers Vs Xmen a while ago.

Well, technically Iron Fist was never "supposed" to be Asian. Per the source material, he's always been a white guy. Though apparently, according to some people in this thread, he was raised in the Asian country where he learned his talents. It's not a Batman Begins thing, or Dr. Strange, where he just wanders into some mystic mountain area and sucks up their teachings in a few years. *shrugs* Never read them so can't really comment on it.

But others have also pointed out that the fact that Iron Fist is white, is kind of integral to the ongoing story arc of him and Luke Cage. That in a time of extremely high racial tensions, those 2 guys were able to get along, and become best friends. The fact that they didn't let their own races, or social upbringings get in the way of their close friendship, was apparently a key part of the stories written back then. So yeah, I'd say it's a good call for them to keep him white. I mean come on, racial tensions in the US? In today's society? Pssh, that's totally not a valid plot element anymore, worthy of reflection. We totally finished all that stuff last week, didn't you get the memo? xD

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Oh dear. Well I don't have netflix nor am particularly fond of this character. The actor cast isn't that great TBH, on or off screen. His earlier "work" is both obscure and lacklustre and his personality at all the GoT convention panels is bland and boring. Will be interesting to see how this goes.

 

[Thanocide]

Wendell Rand is not from K'un Lun. He became the ward of Orson Randall, the previous Iron Fist. He eventually made his way to K'un Lun afer leaving Orson, becoming the adotped son of the Tuan and earning the right to become the Iron Fist, but he chickens out. He later tries to get back to K'un Lun resulting in Danny being taken in by K'un Lun after the the deaths of his parents.

Also, K'un Lun is not depicted as "Asian." It is depicted as Chinese, specifically, and is named after a real world mythological Kunlun Mountain and real world Kunlun Mountians.