Will Netflix’s Iron Fist be as big as Luke Cage? Maybe, maybe not, but it will still make an amazing Marvel Comics superhero series to stream.
The first season of Marvel’s Iron Fist debuts on Netflix on March 17. Judging by the trailer, it seems that this modern-day retelling generally follows the original storyline: young, wealthy child Daniel Rand losing his parents and being transported to the mystical city of K’un L’un, where Daniel is taught kung fu. After 10 or 20 years, Daniel returns to the world to find that the corporation started by his father has been taken over by bad people. In his quest to free the Rand Corporation from the clutches of evil, Danny Rand becomes a kung fu superhero called Iron Fist.
Admittedly, the series looks good. It appears to offer everything you’d expect from a Marvel superhero franchise on Netflix – action, drama, and a wise-cracking sidekick, as well as high production values. Given all that and the continuing popularity of Marvel’s superhero series, it begs the question of whether or not Iron Fist will be a hit? More to the point, will it be as big of a hit as another Marvel franchise on Netflix – Luke Cage?
There’s a good reason to compare Iron Fist to Luke Cage. If you grew up reading comic books during the 1970s, then you might remember a series called Power Man and Iron Fist. This was Marvel’s team up of Luke Cage, who’s also known as Power Man, and the Iron Fist character. Marvel put the two together at a time when each character’s individual series was beginning to decline in popularity. As far as current superhero streaming shows are concerned, Netflix’s Luke Cage is the one to measure all other by.
There’s good, then there’s shuts-down-Netflix-for-the-day good. Luke Cage falls into the latter category. It’s widely believed that Luke Cage crashed Netflix on the day after its September 30, 2016 debut. While Netflix didn’t release any information on the cause of the outage, many people believe it was due to the many people binge watching the then-new series. Twitter practically exploded with tweets from people who said their weekend was ruined by Netflix’s crash. Hashtags such as #netflixdown and #LukeCage became very popular with those complaining about the crash. Netflix engineers returned the streaming service a few hours after the outage.
For now, we can only speculate as to the potential greatness of Marvel’s Iron Fist. As to some facts, the series stars Finn Jones (Game of Thrones) in the lead role of Danny Rand/Iron Fist. It also stars Jessica Henwick (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Jessica Stroup (Jack Reacher: Never Go Back), and David Wenham (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers). The series was created by Scott Buck, who’s produced and written for Showtime’s Dexter and HBO’s Six Feet Under, among other shows. Iron Fist’s first season features 13 episodes for streaming.
Iron Fist isn’t the only new show on Netflix this month. Here’s a look at everything that’s available on the streaming service during the month of March:
March 1
Angry Birds: Season 2 (2013)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Chicago (2002)
Deep Run (2015)
Dirt Every Day: Season 1 (2013)
Epic Drives: Season 2 (2015)
Friday After Next (2002)
Head 2 Head: Season 2 (2013)
Hot Rod Unlimited: Season 1 (2013)
Ignition: Season 1 (2013)
Impossible Dreamers (2017)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Jurassic Park III (2001)
Kate and Mim-Mim: Season 2 (2015)
Know Your Enemy – Japan (1945)
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Let There Be Light (1946)
Memento (2000)
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Nacho Libre (2006)
Nazi Concentration Camps (1945)
Roadkill: Season 2 (2013)
Rolling Stones: Crossfire Hurricane (2012)
San Pietro (1945)
Singing with Angels (2016)
Sustainable (2016)
Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)
The Craft (1996)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny (2006)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944)
The Negro Soldier (1944)
Thunderbolt (1947)
Tunisian Victory (1944)
March 3
Greenleaf: Season 1 (2016)
March 4
Safe Haven (2013)
March 5
Señora Acero: Season 3 (2016)
March 7
Amy Schumer: The Leather Special
March 8
Hands of Stone (2016)
The Waterboy (1998)
March 9
Thithi (2015)
March 10
Buddy Thunderstruck: Season 1
Burning Sands
Love: Season 2
One More Time: Season 1
The Boss’ Daughter (2016)
March 13
Must Love Dogs (2005)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
March 14
Disney’s Pete’s Dragon (2016)
Jim Norton: Mouthful of Shame
March 15
Disney’s The BFG (2016)
Lucha Underground: Seasons 1-2
Notes on Blindness (2016)
March 16
Beau Sejour: Season 1
Coraline (2009)
March 17
Deidra & Laney Rob a Train
Julie’s Greenroom: Season 1
Marvel’s Iron Fist: Season 1
Naledi: A Baby Elephant’s Tale (2016)
Pandora
Samurai Gourmet: Season 1
March 18
Come and Find Me (2016)
The Vampire Diaries: Season 8 (2016)
March 20
El Reemplazante: Season 1-2 (2012)
March 21
Ali & Nino (2016)
Another Forever (2016)
Evolution (2015)
Fire at the Sea (Fuocoammare) (2016)
March 23
How to Get Away with Murder: Season 3 (2016)
Welcome to New York (2015)
March 24
Bottersnikes & Gumbles: Season 2
Déjà Vu (2006)
Felipe Neto: My Life Makes No Sense
Grace and Frankie: Season 3
Ingobernable: Season 1
Spider (2007)
The Square (2008)
The Most Hated Woman in America
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
March 25
The Student Body (2017)
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (2016)
March 26
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
March 27
Better Call Saul: Season 2
March 28
Archer: Season 7 (2016)
Jo Koy: Live from Seattle
March 30
Life in Pieces: Season 1 (2015)
March 31
13 Reasons Why: Season 1
Bordertown: Season 1
Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life: Season 1 (2016)
Dinotrux: Season 4
FirstBorn (2016)
Five Came Back
GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (2012)
Rosewood: Season 1
The Carmichael Show: Season 1-2
The Discovery
Trailer Park Boys: Season 11
