Finn Jones Cast as Iron Fist: The Game of Thrones Star Joins

Finn Jones as Iron Fist, explained

In February 2016, Finn Jones, the English actor best known as Ser Loras Tyrell on Game of Thrones, was reported as the lead of Marvel's Iron Fist for Netflix, and Marvel confirmed the casting the following month. The role of Danny Rand was the last major piece of the Netflix and Marvel street-level team to be filled, which made Finn Jones the fourth name alongside Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter and Mike Colter in what became The Defenders.

Entertainment Weekly carried the first report on February 25, 2016. The Hollywood Reporter's confirmation described the series as centered on Daniel Rand, who fights the criminal elements corrupting New York with his kung fu skills and his ability to summon the power of the fiery Iron Fist, and as picking up with Rand returning to the city after going missing for several years.

Who Finn Jones is

Finn Jones was born Terence Jones in London on March 24, 1988. Before Marvel he was best known for Game of Thrones, where he played Loras Tyrell, the brother of Margaery, in a recurring role across 21 episodes from 2011 to 2016. His other credits include Hollyoaks and Hollyoaks Later, Doctors, The Bill, The Sarah Jane Adventures and, in film, Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines and Leatherface.

The Marvel role was his first lead in a major series, and it came as his Game of Thrones run was winding down. For Netflix, it solved a practical problem: the company had its first three heroes on screen or in production and still needed the fourth.

Beyond fantasy and superheroes, Jones has appeared in Dickinson as Samuel Bowles and in Swimming with Sharks as Marty. The range matters for a role like Danny Rand, who has to read as a wealthy heir in one scene and a trained fighter in the next.

The Defenders and the Netflix line-up

The Netflix and Marvel deal rested on four street-level heroes who would meet in a crossover. Charlie Cox was Daredevil, Krysten Ritter was Jessica Jones, Mike Colter was Luke Cage, and Jones completed the set as Iron Fist. The Defenders brought them together in 2017, after each had a series of their own.

Each of the four leads brought a different register to the shared universe. Daredevil was a legal drama with a costume, Jessica Jones a noir thriller about trauma and control, and Luke Cage a story rooted in Harlem and its community. Iron Fist was meant to add martial arts and a hint of mysticism, so the powers matter as much as the actor. The team-up only works if the fourth hero feels distinct from the other three.

Iron Fist was therefore the last piece to be cast, and the casting news was read mostly as the end of a long wait. The show would have to introduce a fourth hero and set him up for the team-up at the same time.

The road to The Defenders

The casting news sits near the end of a long build-up. In order:

1. 01Daredevil premiered on Netflix on April 10, 2015, starring Charlie Cox.
2. 02Jessica Jones followed on November 20, 2015, with Krysten Ritter in the lead.
3. 03Luke Cage premiered on September 30, 2016, with Mike Colter.
4. 04Iron Fist was reported with Finn Jones in February 2016 and premiered on March 17, 2017.
5. 05The Defenders brought the four heroes together in August 2017.

The four Defenders and their series

What Iron Fist can do

Casting a hero tells an audience what to expect from the tone, and Iron Fist is an unusual fit for a gritty New York line-up. Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage worked on a human scale of brawls, bruises and street corruption. Danny Rand comes from K'un-Lun, a hidden realm, and carries the force of a dragon in his hand. The casting had to bridge those two worlds.

According to Marvel's own description of the character, Danny Rand concentrates to harness his spiritual energy, or chi, and so raise his physical and mental abilities to peak human levels. By focusing chi into his hand, he can tap the energy of the dragon Shou-Lao and make his fist superhumanly powerful and immune to pain and injury. The process is mentally draining, and he usually needs recovery time before he can repeat it.

The same profile gives him several other abilities. He can heal himself of injury or illness and project that power to heal others. He can sense mystic energy, especially energy related to K'un-Lun. He can fuse his consciousness with another person's so that each perceives the other's emotions and memories. He has unusually keen eyesight, though whether it reaches superhuman level is unclear. His body is oriented to combat, and he can adapt to nearly any environment with little exposure. At times he has absorbed energy aimed at him and channeled it into his own power, and under certain circumstances he can focus chi to create nexus points between dimensions.

For a show, that list is both generous and risky. It is generous because it supports big fights and quieter scenes of healing and sensing. It is risky because a hero this powerful needs a story that tests him in ways other than combat.

The series that followed

Iron Fist premiered on Netflix on March 17, 2017, with 13 episodes under showrunner Scott Buck. Danny Rand returns to New York after being presumed dead for 15 years and tries to reclaim Rand Enterprises from the Meachum family, while he weighs the legacy of his family against his duty as the Iron Fist. The supporting cast included Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing, Tom Pelphrey as Ward Meachum, Jessica Stroup as Joy Meachum and Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple.

Season 2 arrived on September 7, 2018, with 10 episodes and M. Raven Metzner as showrunner. By then Rand was protecting New York while Matt Murdock was absent, until a new enemy threatened his identity and the people close to him. Netflix canceled the series on October 12, 2018.

The story of the first season is a corporate one as much as a martial one. Danny returns to find that Rand Enterprises is controlled by the Meachum family, and the fight over the company is as much a part of the plot as any fight with a rival fighter. That mix of boardroom and temple is the premise the casting announcement was selling.

Across both seasons, Jones played the role in 23 episodes, and he also appeared in The Defenders and in a guest spot on Luke Cage. According to Wikipedia, he is set to return in the third season of Daredevil: Born Again.

Verdict: what the casting told viewers

In the long view, the casting did what it needed to do. It completed the line-up, gave the fourth Defender a recognizable face and let Netflix and Marvel set a date for the crossover. Whether the series built on that foundation is a separate argument, and the show's two-season run and cancellation are the plain facts.

The character did not vanish with the cancellation. Jones reprised Danny Rand in The Defenders and made a guest appearance in Luke Cage, and, according to Wikipedia, he is set to return in the third season of Daredevil: Born Again. That suggests the role has a life beyond the original Netflix run, which is unusual for a canceled series.

At the time, the casting of Finn Jones told viewers three things. Netflix wanted a recognizable face from a hit series. It wanted a lead who could carry a role that needs both physicality and a certain vulnerability. And it was serious about finishing the team-up it had promised.

The series that followed drew a mixed response, and that reception is part of the story of Iron Fist. It is one reason the character's later appearances have been of interest. As a snapshot of the moment, though, the news was straightforward: the fourth Defender had a face.

One detail worth remembering is that Jones did not come from nowhere. He had spent five years on a global hit as a knight with a secret, across 21 episodes, and that run gave him an audience before the Marvel announcement.

Taken together, the casting story is a good example of how a franchise assembles a team: one actor at a time, with the last name often carrying the most weight in the announcement.

Sources

• Iron Fist (TV series), Wikipedia — cast and series details