Why Iron Fist reception shouldn’t damage hype for The Defenders

Iron Fist -

Iron Fist is finally here on Netflix … and the reaction to it from the internet is certainly a mixed bag.

Out of the four series that have been released so far by Netflix through their own little edition of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it feels abundantly clear that Iron Fist is the worst-received of any of the shows. There are people out there who downright seem to loathe the new series, and that just doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.

Let’s dive in here with our take — Iron Fist is a very good, incredibly entertaining show and for us, it’s not the worst of the Marvel – Netflix series that have been put out. We also think that there are some critics out there who decided that they weren’t going to like it before they even started watching it just because they didn’t like the casting, the themes of the story, or something in between. For the record, we do think that Finn Jones is a really great actor, and it’s pretty sad that not everyone is all that receptive to giving him a chance.

So is this negative reaction going to lead to less interest in The Defenders, the huge team-up series coming to Netflix series? Maybe to some, but in general, we’d make the argument that some of the hype surrounding this show was a little bit muted in the first place. The reviews for Luke Cage weren’t necessarily great from all parties, and it’s been a good year and a half since we had new episodes of Jessica Jones. Add to that the fact that not everyone loved the second season of Daredevil since (for us) it was lacking a solid overall story arc and felt a bit mashed together with too many storylines. There are so many superhero shows out there right now that it’s become harder and harder to lift any particular one on a pedestal.

In the end, these series are meant to just be fun and entertaining, and there’s become this undue expectation to turn them into something that they are not. Do we expect The Defenders to be high art on the level of Moonlight? No. We expect it to be an intense-but-entertaining superhero romp that gives us a chance to see beloved characters fighting together. So long as we continue to view the series as that, it’s a little hard to be disappointed.

Does your opinion of Iron Fist so far alter your expectations for The Defenders in any way? Share some of your thoughts below!

Meanwhile, head over here if you do want to get some early talk right now on a potential The Defenders season 2. (Photo: Netflix.)

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