Iron Fist (comics)

Iron Fist (Daniel "Danny" Rand-K'ai) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics Universe, and a practitioner of martial arts. Created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, he first appeared in Marvel Premiere #15 (May 1974). The character starred in his own solo series in the 1970s, and shared the title Power Man and Iron Fist for several years.

Publication history

Iron Fist, along with the previously created Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, came from Marvel Comics during a pop culture trend in the early 1970s for martial arts heroes. Debuting in a story by writer Roy Thomas and penciler Gil Kane in the umbrella title Marvel Premiere #15-25 (May 1974 – October 1975), he was then written successively by Len Wein, Doug Moench, Tony Isabella, and Chris Claremont, with art by successive pencillers Larry Hama, Arvell Jones, Pat Broderick, and, in some of his earliest professional work, John Byrne. Following this run, Iron Fist was immediately spun off into the solo series Iron Fist, which ran 15 issues (November 1975 – September 1977). The solo series was written by Claremont and pencilled by Byrne. A subplot involving Steel Serpent left unresolved by the cancellation of the series was wrapped up in issues #63-64 of Marvel Team-Up.

Iron Fist joined the cast of the Luke Cage series in a three-parter story in Power Man #48-50. The title series changed to Power Man and Iron Fist with issue #50, although the indicia did not reflect this change until issue #67. Iron Fist co-starred the series until the final issue (#125, September 1986).

Two solo miniseries followed a decade later: Iron Fist (vol. 2) #1-2 (September – October 1996), by writer James Felder and penciller Robert Brown; and Iron Fist (vol. 3) #1-3 (July – September 1998), by writer Dan Jurgens and penciller Jackson Guice. Also around this time, he was among the ensemble of the group series Heroes for Hire which ran 19 issues (July 1997 – January 1999).

Following a four-issue miniseries by writer Jay Faerber and penciller Jamal Igle, Iron Fist: Wolverine (November 2000 – February 2001), co-starring the X-Men character Wolverine and cover-billed as Iron Fist/Wolverine: The Return of K'un Lun, came another solo miniseries, Iron Fist (vol. 4) #1-6 (May – October 2004), by writer Jim Mullaney and penciller Kevin Lau. The first issue of a new ongoing series, The Immortal Iron Fist, by co-writers Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction and primary artist David Aja, premiered with a January 2007 cover-date. Duane Swierczynski took over the series from issue #17.^[1]

Writer co-creator Roy Thomas wrote in a text piece in Marvel Premiere #15 that Iron Fist's origin and creation owe much to the 1940s Bill Everett character, Amazing-Man. Thomas later wrote that he and artist co-creator Gil Kane had...

Iron Fist appearances outside his own title include three Iron Fist stories in Marvel's black-and-white comics magazine Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #10 (March 1975), an additional story co-starring the Sons of the Tiger in issue #18 (November 1975), and a six-part serial, "The Living Weapon", in #19-24 (December 1975 – May 1976). He made guest appearances in such titles as Marvel Two-in-One, Marvel Team-Up, the Sub-Mariner series Namor, Black Panther, and Daredevil.

Fictional character biography

Background

Daniel Rand was born in New York City, the son of American businessman Wendell Rand, a wealthy entrepreneur who discovered the mystical city of K'un-L'un as a young boy. During his time in K'un L'un, Wendell saved the life of the city's ruler, Lord Tuan, and was adopted as Tuan's son. However, Wendell eventually left K'un L'un and became a wealthy entrepreneur in the United States. He married socialite Heather Duncan and had a child, Daniel. When Daniel was nine, Wendell organized an expedition to again seek out K'un L'un, taking his wife Heather, his business partner Harold Meachum, and Daniel. During the journey up the mountain, Daniel slipped off the path, his tie-rope taking his mother and father with him. Meachum, who also loved Heather, forced Wendell to plunge to his death but offered to rescue Heather and Daniel. She rejected his help, preferring to journey without him or die.

As explained in Marvel Premiere #15, Heather and Daniel come across a makeshift bridge that appears out of nowhere and are attacked by a pack of wolves. Heather throws herself on the wolves to save Daniel and is killed even as archers from K'un L'un attempt to save her. The archers take the grieving Daniel to see Yü-Ti, the hooded ruler of K'un L'un. When Daniel expresses his desire for vengeance, Yü-Ti apprentices him to Lei Kung, the Thunderer, who teaches him the martial arts.

Daniel proves to be the most gifted of Lei Kung's students. Rand conditions his fists by plunging them into buckets of sand, gravel, and rock to toughen them. At 19, Daniel is given the chance to attain the power of the Iron Fist by fighting and defeating the dragon known as Shou-Lao the Undying, which guarded the molten heart that had been torn from its body. During the battle, Daniel throws himself against the scar of Shou-Lao, which burns a dragon tattoo into his chest. Having killed Shou-Lao, he enters its cave and plunges his fists into a brazier containing the creature's molten heart, emerging with the power of the Iron Fist. It is later revealed that there have been many Iron Fists before Daniel, making him the modern member of a long lineage of Iron Fists.

When K'un L'un reappears on Earth after 10 years, Daniel decides to leave and find his father's killer. Returning to New York, Daniel Rand, dressed in the ceremonial garb of the Iron Fist, seeks out Harold Meachum, now head of Meachum Industries. After overcoming a number of attempts on his life, he confronts Meachum in his office, only to find the man legless—an amputation carried out when, after abandoning Daniel and his mother, he was caught in heavy snow and his legs became frostbitten.

Impressed by Iron Fist's abilities, Meachum accepts his fate and tells Iron Fist to kill him, but overcome with pity for this pathetic shell of a man, Iron Fist walks away. At that moment Meachum is murdered by a mysterious ninja^[3] and his daughter Joy blames Iron Fist for the death.^[4] Eventually, Iron Fist clears his name and begins a career as a superhero, aided by his friends Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, falling in love with the latter.^[5] Notable adversaries in his early career include the first appearance of the villain Sabretooth (who was not yet known to be connected to Wolverine), the mysterious Master Khan (whom the ninja that killed Meachum once served), and the Steel Serpent, the exiled son of Lei Kung, who coveted the Iron Fist power.

Heroes for Hire

Iron Fist met the hero Iron Man early in his career.^[6] Soon after that, he recounted his first battle with the H'ylthri.^[7]

Just before Rand's battle with Steel Serpent, Misty Knight had been working undercover, infiltrating the organization of the crime lord John Bushmaster. When Bushmaster discovered Knight's treachery, he kidnapped Claire Temple and Noah Burstein, the closest associates of Luke Cage, better known as Power Man, holding them hostage to force Cage to eliminate Knight. Iron Fist was on hand to stop him, however, and after a battle, the truth came out. Rand then helped Cage and the Daughters of the Dragon (Knight and Wing) battle Bushmaster, and rescue Temple and Burstein as well as obtain evidence that proved Cage's innocence on prior drug charges. Iron Fist and Power Man decided to become partners, forming Heroes for Hire, Inc.^[8]

Although Iron Fist and Power Man supposedly were only heroes for money, they were always doing the right thing, which usually left them with less money rather than more. Iron Fist, in his secret identity of Daniel Rand, had reassumed control of his parents' fortune as half of Rand-Meachum, Inc., and was actually quite wealthy. This caused a lot of tension between him and Cage, who was raised poor in the ghetto, even though Rand had actually handed control of his company over to other managers while he learned how to cope in the real world after so long living in K'un-L'un rather than relying on money that he had inherited.

At one point, the pair traveled to K'un-L'un together, where they battled Master Khan.^[9]

Power Man and Iron Fist's partnership ended with Rand contracting cancer from radiation poisoning and inadvertently dying at the hands of Captain Hero, and Cage becoming a fugitive as the prime suspect in Rand's death.^[10]

Resurrection

In the 1990s, the storyline of Rand's death is resolved in the pages of Namor. Although Rand apparently returns from the dead, it is revealed instead to be the Super-Skrull. He admits that he had been Captain Hero, and that the plot to destroy the lives of Rand and Cage had been masterminded by Master Khan. It is also revealed that the "Iron Fist" that had died was actually a doppelgänger created by the extra-dimensional H'ylthri. Rand had, in fact, been kidnapped and replaced by the H'ylthri copy just after he left K'un L'un for the last time.^[11] While in stasis with the H'ylthri, Rand manages to focus his chi, curing the cancer. Iron Fist is later discovered alive in K'un-L'un. With Namor and Misty Knight, he battles Master Khan once more.^[12]

After Marvel's Onslaught crossover event, Rand and Cage reform Heroes for Hire, Inc. with an expanded team, this time working for Namor's Oracle Corporation. Chronicled in a new Heroes for Hire series, the title is eventually canceled due to low sales, ending with Namor dissolving Oracle as well as Heroes for Hire, Inc.

Iron Fist at one point also lost his powers to Junzo Muto,^[13] the young leader of the Hand, but subsequently regained them.^[14]

In the Iron Fist miniseries, Miranda Rand-K'ai also returns from the dead. The H'ylthri revive her and promise to restore her to full life if she retrieves the extra-dimensional artifact known as the Zodiac Key. To this end, she takes the identity of Death Sting, bringing her into conflict with Iron Fist as well as with S.H.I.E.L.D. When the H'ylthri try to kill Iron Fist, Miranda turns the power of the Zodiac Key against them, seemingly killing herself in the process. However, exposure to chemicals from the H'ylthri pods prevented her death.

During the "House of M" crossover event, Rand is shown to be a part of Luke Cage's resistance group.

Civil War and Daredevil

Rand disguises himself as Daredevil to convince the media and the public that Matt Murdock is not the masked vigilante.^[15] Rand believes that he had been hired to pose as Daredevil by Foggy Nelson. In reality Nelson had faked being murdered and was in witness protection.

During the Civil War, he was opposed to the Superhuman Registration Act, joining Captain America while still pretending to be Daredevil. Rand was apprehended by Pro-Registration forces, calling Tony Stark 'Judas' and giving him a silver dollar, which he says makes thirty one pieces for him. He was later freed from the Negative Zone Prison, joining Captain America's team for the final battle with Iron Man's forces.

New Avengers

After the arrest of Captain America, Rand joins the New Avengers, an underground group provided with secure accommodation by Doctor Strange and which includes his former teammate Luke Cage.^[16] Also, in the public eye, Rand is able to avoid arrest with legal loopholes.^[17]

During the Dark Reign storyline, Rand leaves the New Avengers due to a variety of problems but lets them know if they ever need him to give him a call. He then participates in searching for Luke and Jessica's daughter Danielle, taking out a HYDRA cell with Spider-Woman thinking the Skrull Jarvis has contacted Earth villains looking for a way out of New York or the Earth.^[18]

Rand was taken captive by Norman Osborn's Thunderbolts and brainwashed into fighting Luke Cage as part of a mental reconditioning project Osborn created to use on other heroes to do his bidding. However, Rand manages to shake off the brainwashing by using his focused chi energy to clear his mind.^[19] Later along with Misty Knight, Doctor Strange, Doctor Voodoo, Hellcat, Valkyrie, Daredevil, and the Thing aid the New Avengers in locating and rescuing Cage from Osborn after he suffered a heart attack and summarily taken into custody as a fugitive.^[20]

The Immortal Iron Fist

In 2006, Marvel launched a new ongoing series, The Immortal Iron Fist, co-written by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction and featuring art by Spanish illustrator David Aja. "The Immortal Iron Fist" began with a six-part arc, counter-intuitively titled "The Last Iron Fist Story". The story reveals the Iron Fist to be a legacy power conferred on the champion of K'un Lun roughly once a generation. There have been sixty-six Iron Fists. K'un L'un is also revealed as one of the Seven Cities of Heaven, each of which has an analogous champion Warrior.

The story introduces Orson Randall, Daniel Rand's immediate predecessor, who reneged on his responsibilities to K'un L'un after suffering immense psychological trauma during the First World War. Randall is discovered in Thailand, apparently preserved by the spirit of Shou-Lao and in full possession of his powers, but living in drug-soaked seclusion. Randall is pursued by agents of the Steel Serpent and the terrorist group HYDRA. Jolted out of his decades-long ennui, Randall seeks out Daniel Rand in New York and gives him The Book of the Iron Fist, a sacred ledger supposedly containing all the Kung-fu secrets of previous Iron Fists, which Randall claims will be necessary if Rand is to compete successfully in the coming tournament of the Seven Champions.

The Steel Serpent, whose powers have been greatly augmented by Crane Mother, quickly dispatches Randall in single combat. On the brink of death, Randall surrenders his Chi to Rand, giving him sufficient power to battle the Serpent to a standstill. After the battle, Rand is immediately summoned by his master, Lei Kung (who is also the father of Steel Serpent) to compete in a tournament that will decide the cycle according to which each of the Seven Cities of Heaven appears on Earth. However, the leaders of the Seven Cities had secretly erected gateways between Earth and each city without the knowledge of the populace. The corruption of the leaders of the Seven Cities of Heaven has spurred Iron Fist, his master Lei Kung the Thunderer, Orson Randall's daughter, and John Aman to secretly plan a revolution. Iron Fist discovers that Crane Mother, and Xao, a high-ranking HYDRA operative, are planning to destroy K'un Lun by using a portal. Upon learning of the plot Steel Serpent helps Rand and the other Immortal weapons to defeat Xao.

Rand destroys the train intended to destroy K'un Lun by extending his chi to find the train's electromagnetic field, transforming himself into "a human bullet." Meanwhile, the revolution orchestrated by Lei Kung and Orson's daughter proves successful, with Nu-an, the Yu-Ti of K'un Lun fleeing in terror. When Rand confronts Xao, Xao reveals that there is an eighth city of Heaven before killing himself. Steel Serpent ultimately seeks to redeem himself to his father and to the populace. Rand suggests Lei Kung as the new Yu-Ti, with Orson's unnamed daughter as the new Thunderer.^[21]

After the events, and learning that the Randall fortune that started Rand International was formed from the oppression of the Cities of Heaven, Rand decides to transform the company into a non-profit organization, dedicated to helping the poor. He also sets up the Thunder Dojo in Harlem to help inner city children, buys back the old Heroes for Hire building as the new Rand International Headquarters, and his new home, while offering Luke Cage a position at the company. He also tries to reconnect with Misty Knight. Rand (on his 33rd birthday) soon learns a disturbing fact about the previous Iron Fists: every single one has died at the age of 33, except Orson Randell, who vanished at that same time.^[22]

Soon afterward Rand is attacked by a servant of Ch'l-Lin, defeating Rand easily. He claims that he has killed many Iron Fists. However, Luke, Misty, and Coleen arrive just as the servant prepares to slay Rand. Luke manages to get ahold of the mysterious assassin, but he then suddenly vanishes. Rand searches for answers in the Book of the Iron Fist to try to understand how Orson Randall was able to avoid being slain by the Ch'l-Lin's assassin. However, one of Rand's new business associates calls Rand up to alert him of the Ch'l-Lin assassin staking out the Thunder Dojo.

Rand heads for the dojo, where he finds the assassin, whose real name has been revealed as Zhou Cheng. Cheng has placed some sort of telepathic command upon the students to kill each other if Rand does not surrender. Rand bows before him, but this is quickly revealed to be only a ploy, as Luke, Misty, and the other Immortal weapons arrive to aid Rand. While still formidable in combat, Rand correctly guessed that an opponent who was tailored to fight the Iron Fist would not be as effective against the other weapons. The group defeats Cheng, but he vanishes into thin air.

The Immortal weapons embark on a hunt for Cheng, while Rand attempts to learn about his new adversary. He soon learns that Orson Randall was only able to escape Cheng by addicting himself to heroin, thus damping his chi and leaving Cheng under the assumption that he had died. While searching for a way to defeat Cheng in the Book of the Iron Fist, Rand discovers that his assistant, Nadine, is an accomplice to Cheng, after she poisons his coffee. While Rand's chi prevents the poison from killing him, it is sufficiently strong to weaken him significantly. All of a sudden, Cheng arrives in Rand's office, thanks Nadine (who, although being Cheng's "beloved," appears to have been a rather reluctant accomplice), and prepares to finish what he and Rand started. Just then, Nadine steps in and attempts to stop Cheng, revealing to him that she is pregnant with his child, and does not wish for their baby to be the child of a murderer. Cheng, is it revealed, is seeking to retrieve the heart of the Iron Fist in order to enter K'un Lun and devour the egg that births the next Shou-Lao the Undying every generation, thus wiping out K'un Lun's Iron Fist legacy. Despite having slain evey previous Iron Fist who did not otherwise fall in battle or relinquish their power (excepting Orson Randall), Cheng has always failed to reach the egg.^[23]

Cheng, who it is also revealed has been slowly buying out Rand Int. over the past 20 years, throws Nadine out of the way, and continues his attack. Rand has his shoulder dislocated during the battle, but manages to defeat Cheng even in his weakened state. Following the duel, the Immortal Weapons, Luke, Coleen, and Misty arrive, and reveal to Rand that they have discovered a map in Cheng's apartment that leads to the Eighth City of Heaven, whose existence was mentioned by Xao during the tournament of the seven cities. Rand and the others realize that his is where the Ch'l-Lin originated, and depart for the Eighth City.^[24]

Before their departure, Davos arrives at the behest of Lei Kung to inform Rand that the Eighth city is, in fact, a prison constructed to hold demonic creatures that had once threatened K'un Lun and the other cities of Heaven and its gate only allows for passage in but not out, making it effectively synonymous with Hell. However, Davos also informs Rand that the previous Yu-Ti had housed anyone who attempted to rebel against his rule in the Eighth city, and Lei Kung commissions Rand and the Immortal Weapons to rescue the wrongful prisoners, and informs them that the in-not-out rule can be bypassed by all six of the Immortal Weapons.

Upon arrival at the gates of the city, Rand and the others are literally sucked into the depths of the city, whereupon they are attacked by the prisoners of the Eighth city, which is ruled by the nefarious Changming, and forced to fight the demons of the city one by one, each time beaten nearly to death (their Chi weakened by having been pulled into the city) and rotated repeatedly, while being allowed to heal just enough to be able to fight again. While Rand is in his cell after a fight, he hears a tapping on his cell wall, and realizes it is being done in Chinese, with the message "You are an Iron Fist. Just like me."^[25] Meanwhile, it is revealed that Davos has not been honest with Rand and the Immortal Weapons about their mission, as he has posted a spy outside of the gate of the Eighth City, who reports there being "no signs of life," but that "something is clearly happening," and Davos determines that this requires him to battle Rand once again.

Rand's fellow prisoner reveals himself to be Quan Yaozu, the very first Iron Fist. Quan reveals that in the early days of K'un Lun's history, Changming had risen to power during a time of moral decadence in the city. Changming had been the one who had originally summoned all of the demonic creatures that had once plagued K'un Lun into the city, including Shou-Lao the Undying, and used them to quickly conquer the city. One day, however, a lone warrior had entered the dragon's cave to challenge it.

Before Quan can finish, he and Rand are removed from their cells and brought into the arena for a fight. By now, Changming has learned that Rand and the Immortal Weapons have been formulating a plan to rescue the prisoners of the Eighth City and make their escape, by leaving each other Morse code messages in the arena after each fight. Changming declares that Rand and Quan will fight to the death. Rand refuses to "fight an old man," but Quan, now in his Iron Fist suit, replies, "Sorry, Young Fist. I've been waiting for this chance for freedom Far Too Long."^[26]

However, once the fight begins, Rand immediately senses that his opponent lacks any perceivable martial arts skills and realizes that he is not the true Quan Yaozu. As the Immortal Weapons manage to escape and defeat the guards during the fight, Changming reveals that he is, in fact, the true Quan Yaozu. He explains that he voluntarily stayed in the Eighth City to keep K'un Lun's demons from escaping. However, upon seeing his lost love thrown into the Eighth City, Quan became disillusioned, and believed that K'un Lun was not worth saving, eventually rising up to rule the Eighth City as Changming. Rand and Fat Cobra manage to defeat Quan in the battle, and prepare to ask him the true nature of the Eighth City and why they have been sent there.^[27]

However, Rand soon discovers that the Immortal Weapons are pawns in a plan Quan has hatched. As the door to the Eighth City can only be opened from the inside by the Immortal Weapons, his plan was for the Immortal Weapons to make an escape attempt, thereby opening the gate and unleashing Quan and his army to take his revenge on the Seven Cities for having sentenced him and many of their citizens to an eternity in the Eighth City.

Quan forces Rand to lead him out of Eighth City and back to K'un Lun, but after making it outside the gate, the two encounter Davos, who is waiting outside the gate with a sniper rifle. He tells Rand that he has been sent there by Lei-Kung to assassinate Quan, as he and Lei-Kung believe that Rand lacks the ability to take a life. In the ensuing battle, Rand manages to defeat both Davos and Quan, going as far as to take a bullet in the hand for the latter. Rand's actions impress Quan, who decides that Rand may be living proof that K'un Lun is not the corrupt city it once was. Rand and Davos agree to guide Quan to K'un Lun and arrange a meeting between him and Lei-Kung to give Quan a forum for his grievances.^[28]

However, when Rand returns to New York, he finds a HYDRA cell waiting for him at Rand International, seeking retribution for the death of Xao, and holding Misty hostage. In the ensuing battle, Rand Int. is destroyed, but Rand and Misty escape unharmed. With Rand Int. destroyed and now left with only a fraction of his former net worth, Rand and Misty purchase a new condo in Harlem, and Rand decides to focus all of his attention and remaining resources at the Thunder Dojo. While moving into their new home, Rand asks Misty to marry him. Initially skeptical of the offer, thinking it may only be "one of those honor things", Misty accepts and reveals that she is pregnant with Rand's child.^[29]

Thunderbolts

Rand is surprised one day when he finds Norman Osborn waiting for him in his office, and is then ambushed and captured by several of the Thunderbolts. Osborn uses new technology to brainwash Rand, using a mentally-induced simulation in which Rand kills Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Captain America but cannot bring himself to kill Luke Cage. Ghost suggests completely mind-wiping Rand, but Osborn does not want him to lose his skills so he forces Rand to undergo a dangerous procedure where his mind is further tampered with. Iron Fist assists in capturing Luke Cage, who later escapes thanks to the Ghost's tampering. Iron Fist attacks Cage (who had been assisted in his escape by Ant-Man, whom he had previously swallowed), and Rand makes it appear that he killed Cage, allowing the two to escape by surprise. It is later revealed that when Rand used his focused chi to punch Cage, it had cleared his warped mind.^[30]

Heroic Age

In the aftermath of Siege, Rand rejoined the newly reformed New Avengers.^[31] While fighting a demonic invasion of New York apparently originating from the Eye of Agamotto, Iron Fist was teleported into another dimension when he came in contact with the Eye, simultaneously creating a rift on Earth that Doctor Strange claimed would mean the end of everything.^[32] As the Avengers battle the demons back on Earth, Iron Fist finds himself in a white void where he encounters the Ancient One, who claims that he is responsible for the current invasion due to his anger at Strange's recent 'failures'.^[33] When Iron Fist returns to Earth- now dressed in a new costume-, he claims that the Ancient One has told him that Strange stole the Eye from the Ancient One rather than being given it by his master, challenging Strange to admit the truth.^[34] Although it is subsequently revealed that Rand was actually being manipulated by Agamotto as part of his attempt to destroy this reality,^[35] he retains his new costume even after Agamotto's defeat and Doctor Voodoo's sacrifice.^[36] After finding out that Misty's pregnancy was false, Misty and Danny decide to move out of their apartment and live separately, but continue their relationship.^[37]

Shadowland

Iron Fist is amongst the heroes who battle Daredevil and the Hand. Luke Cage and Iron Fist are asked by Captain America, Iron Man and Thor to speak to Daredevil concerning the Hand's martial law imposed in Hell's Kitchen. As the former Heroes for Hire make their way to Hell's Kitchen, they witness Daredevil brutally murder Bullseye.^[38]

Danny later has an encounter with someone who is going by the name of Power Man. He and Luke Cage discover that the Power Man is Victor Alvarez who was a survivor of the building that Bullseye blew up.^[39]

The day after Bullseye's murder, Iron Fist and Luke Cage are discussing Murdock's actions when they are visited by the Kingpin, who comes to warn them that soon they will need to take Murdock down. Iron Fist later joins Luke Cage and the other street heroes when talking to Daredevil. When Kingpin unleashes Ghost Rider upon Shadowland, Daredevil suspects them behind Ghost Rider's attack and orders his ninjas to hunt them down.^[40]

In the final battle for Shadowland, Iron Fist uses his chi to heal Murdock's body and soul, giving Daredevil the power to fight back against the beast inhabiting his body.^[41]

After Shadowland, Iron Fist becomes the new Power Man's mentor and the two become a team.

Fear Itself

During the event Iron Fist and the Immortal Weapons are summoned to Bejing China to close the gates of the Eighth City that are on the verge of opening. However, Doctor Strange's prediction that Iron Fist is the problem and not the solution comes true when Danny is placed under mind control which is also creating a mystical interference with the ability of the Immortal Weapons to close the gate. He is then forced to battle his allies, including War Machine who had accompanied their group on this trip. Thanks to War Machine knocking him out, the mission is completed successfully. However, Doctor Strange realizes that Iron Fist is now an Immortal Weapon of Agamotto.^[42]

Powers and abilities

Plunging his fists into the molten heart of the dragon Shou-Lao the Undying infused the dragon's superhuman energy into Rand; this along with training by Lei Kung the Thunderer gave Rand the power of the Iron Fist, allowing him to summon and focus his chi (or natural energy) and enhance his natural abilities to extraordinary levels. His strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes and senses can all be greatly intensified, making his already formidable martial arts skills even more so.

The ultimate expression of this focus is the ability to concentrate his body's natural energies into his hand, manifesting as a supernatural glow around his clenched fist, making his fist "like unto a thing of iron". So concentrated, this "iron fist" can smash into its target with superhuman hardness and impact, while his hand becomes impervious to pain and injury. However, the feat of summoning the power required leaves Rand physically and mentally drained, unable to repeat the act for a time, as long as even an entire day in certain instances. Such an ability is described as "quasi-mystical".

Other applications of the Iron Fist power include the ability to focus chi energy inward to heal oneself or outward to heal others of injury, as well as the ability to telepathically fuse his consciousness temporarily with another person and meld with that person's mind. In Maximum Carnage, Rand was able to use the mental application of the Iron Fist to temporarily calm a rioting mob. When asked about this by Spider-Man, Rand replied that all humans are, in essence, one divine being, in a constant craving for that oneness, and once it is offered, it cannot be refused. When asked by Spider-Man how long it would take to learn this "meditative technique", Rand replied, "Eight or ten years."

Orson Randall, Rand's predecessor as Iron Fist, demonstrated applications including hypnosis and channeling his chi energy into projectile weapons to increase their destructive capacity. Randall also showed enhanced resistance to injury, including resilience to poison gas dropped on his fellow combatants in the trenches of World War I, and a greatly slowed aging process. Although almost one hundred years old by the time he encountered Daniel Rand, he demonstrated physical vitality commensurate with a highly-trained martial artist half his age. Rand has presumably acquired powers and abilities at least equivalent to Orson Randall's—though not necessarily the skill to control them—thanks to combining Randall's chi energy with his own. He is also in possession of the Book of the Iron Fist, study of which will greatly expand his kung fu skills.

Rand displayed what he had learned from Orson Randall regarding alternative applications of the Iron Fist when he was able to extend his chi from his fist into the electromagnetic field of the train intended to destroy K'un Lun, transforming himself into "a human bullet." Despite the train being loaded down with "enough raw explosives to make Hiroshima look like a sparkler", Rand was able to destroy the train, and survive the massive explosion virtually unharmed.

Even without the Iron Fist, Rand is a master of all of K'un Lun's martial arts and many of Earth's, making him easily one of the most skilled practitioners of unarmed combat in the Marvel Universe.

In a confrontation with Tony Stark, it is revealed that Iron Fist has been registered as a lethal weapon, as is supposedly required of advanced martial artists in the United States. His lawyer is present during the confrontation and argues the loophole that he is already registered with the government, and that his abilities are skill based and not power based, meaning that he does not technically qualify as a superhero and it is suggested that he has broken no laws.

Other versions

Age of Apocalypse

In Astonishing X-Men (vol. 1) #2, a man is seen running from Holocaust with the Iron Fist tattoo on his upper left shoulder.

MC2

Iron Fist appeared in the pages of Spider-Girl #24, in which he is retired after the death of Misty Knight, his wife in this universe. However, he temporary steps back into costume to aid Spider-Girl against the might of Dragon Fist.^[43]

Marvel Zombies

Iron Fist is shown twice in battle during the Marvel Zombies miniseries. He can be seen in several splash panels, as well being bitten by a zombie version of Luke Cage, and again punching a hole through a zombified Black Cat and once again being bitten.^[44] A different Iron Fist appears in Marvel Zombies Return in an alternate universe where he is unaffected by the zombie outbreak until the Wolverine from the Marvel Zombies universe kills him with his claws.^[45]

Ultimate Iron Fist

Daniel Rand has appeared in Ultimate Spider-Man. His first appearance in the Ultimate universe was in Ultimate Spider-Man #1/2. Later, he appeared in the Warriors story-arc (issues #79-85) along with Shang Chi, Moon Knight, and others. He reappears in the Ultimate Knights arc, as a member of a Daredevil-led team trying to take down the Kingpin. In Ultimate Spider-Man #107, however, he has apparently betrayed the group to the Kingpin. Daredevil has uncovered the deception and ends issue #109 demanding answers from Rand. In issue #110 Iron Fist reveals that he has a daughter and the Kingpin threatened her life, so he chose his daughter's life over Daredevil's, and the rest of the heroes that teamed up to take down the Kingpin. He did distract Kingpin while Daredevil grabbed Kingpin's wife. Rand is last seen with his daughter and his daughter's mother Colleen Wing.

House of M

After Scarlet Witch alters reality, Daniel Rand emerges from K'un-Lun, unaware of the mutant-dominated planet. He is attacked by mutant police, and eventually joins Luke Cage's Human Resistance Movement.

In other media

Television

• Iron Fist appears in The Super Hero Squad Show episode "A Brat Walks Among Us" voiced by Mikey Kelley. He is seen as a member of Heroes for Hire (alongside Luke Cage and Misty Knight) when Brynnie Bratton hires them to help look for her father.

Film

• In May 2000, Marvel Studios brought Artisan Entertainment to co-finance an Iron Fist film,^[46] hiring Ray Park to star and John Turman to write the script in January 2001.^[47] Park read extensively the comics Iron Fist had appeared in.^[48] Kirk Wong signed to direct in July 2001, with filming set for late 2001/early 2002.^[49] Iron Fist nearly went into pre-production in March 2002.^[50] Wong left the project in April 2002.^[51] By August 2002, pre-production had started.^[52] Filming was pushed back to late 2002,^[53] and then to late 2003.^[54] In March 2003, Marvel announced a 2004 release date.^[55] In April 2003, Steve Carr entered negotiations to direct.^[56] In November 2003, the release date was moved to 2006.^[57] In March 2007, Carr placed Iron Fist on hold due to scheduling conflicts.^[58] In 2009, Marvel announced they have begun hiring a group of writers to help come up with creative ways to launch its lesser-known properties, such as Iron Fist, along with others such as Black Panther, Cable, Doctor Strange, Nighthawk, and Vision.^[59] In August 2010, Marvel Studios hired Rich Wilkes to write the screenplay.^[60]

Video games

• Iron Fist appears as a non-playable character in the 16-bit video game Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (1994), which was released for the Super Nintendo and Genesis game consoles.^[61]
• Iron Fist appears as a playable character in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe voiced by John Rubinow. He is depicted as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who went missing when on Tangaroa Island. After Iron Fist is rescued from the P.H.A.N.T.O.M.s by Spider-Man, he joins him on his quest.
• Iron Fist is a playable character in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced by Peter Dobson. He is locked into the Anti-Registration faction during the Civil War portion of the game.^[62]
• Iron Fist makes a cameo appearance in Ryu's ending in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.
• Iron Fist is a new playable character in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, an update to the original Marvel vs. Capcom 3.^[63] In this game, he is voiced by Loren Lester. ^[64]

Reception

Iron Fist is ranked as the 195th greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.^[65] IGN also ranked Iron Fist as the 68th greatest comic book hero of all time stating that in the Marvel Universe, mastery of martial arts is enough to qualify as a super-power, and none are more "super" at the art of fighting than Iron Fist.^[66]

Collected editions

References

External links

• Iron Fist at Marvel.com
• A profile of his father, Wendell Rand-K'ai
• A profile of his mother, Heather Duncan Rand (Silver Dragon)
• Iron Fist at the Internet Movie Database