Daily Recco, April 2: Iron Fist of understated superhero caper

The reimagining of comic book superheroes as film characters has been taken further with the rising number of shows on OTT platforms that offer fans more opportunities for a crossover. Netflix's Iron Fist brings to the screen the superhero of the same name from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and sets up for an ensemble superhero palooza.

No two words perhaps describe the global entertainment scene of our times as 'superhero age'. The jury is still out on whether Hollywood is unable to come up with other types of storylines or whether it is just juicing the trend for all it is worth. But why stop when there are still superheroes who have still not made it to the screen.

Iron Fist is a show that may or may not stand on its own in time to come. But it does a good job of setting up the tone and the world in which other MCU heroes are likely to make an entrance. The MCU has given us massive ensemble movies of a colossal scale, and it is interesting to see that its television versions are off to a slower start perhaps to ensure that there is scale to ramp up when the demand arises.

Finn Jones, Jessica Henwick, Tom Pelphrey, Jessica Stroup and Rosario Dawson star in the first season of the show. The storyline begins when a man walks into the corporate headquarters of a massive conglomerate and claims to be Danny Rand, the heir to the business. Catch? He has been presumed dead for 15 years in a plane crash that happened when he was 10.

Having been raised at a monastery in a mythical realm for 15 years, Rand is a fit into the warrior monk trope common in the 1970s. The action is thankfully not over the top, leaving some of the failures and defeats believable.

Iron Fist may not be the cuttingest edge of television. But it is a must-watch purely because it is among the early instalments of a crossover ensemble that is likely to conquer television as it did to Hollywood. If not for that, watch Iron Fist if you want a not-too-heavy sort of understated superhero caper. Currently streaming on Netflix.

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