To a majority, the first season of Iron Fist was considered the worst thing to be released from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then "Inhumans" came out, leading Marvel to realize to never give Scott Buck work again. Unlike "Inhumans" though, Iron Fist still had room and opportunity to improve. Despite the negative reception, viewership for season one on Netflix warranted a second season. But before that, Iron Fist was part of the Defenders crossover series, where I felt the flaws of his series were more evident while in the presence of the other heroes. Following that, he appeared in an episode of Luke Cage's second season this past summer where a personality overhaul filled many with hope for his own series' return. It seems past mistakes have been learned from as this whole season brought forth the quality one comes to expect from Marvel and Netflix.
I believe the key to this season's success is due to two factors: tone and length. One of the best things about most of the Marvel Netflix shows is how the environment feels authentic. Right from the first episode, I'm immediately sucked in as opposed to the beginning of the show's first season. I also feel there are more stakes involved since this season deals with vigilantism, gang wars, and protecting the public; there's even one episode where a group of innocent people are threatened and you can truly feel the danger they're in. By extension, the action is greatly improved upon as well, including probably one of the most exciting and fast paced scenes to come from the MCU in the last episode. They even thought of new uses for Danny's Iron Fist, like punching a long table into a group of thugs; an extreme form of "flipping the table" if you will.
Season two is also only ten episodes compared to thirteen as is the norm for the heroes' solo shows. Season one of Iron Fist was rumored to be having trouble in production, and I believe part of that was trying to stretch the story out to a full thirteen episodes. They say a story is only as long as you need it to be, but that doesn't mean you should set a quota and include unnecessary details. This is one of those lessons I think they learned from before, and it shows they're willing to put story over episode count if they need to.
The season is full of amazing development with all our main characters.
* Danny Rand/Iron Fist: Going back to what I said about authenticity, when we find Danny as the season begins, he actually feels like a genuine human being. Much like his appearance in Luke Cage last summer, he seems to have gotten a major overhaul after the defeat of the Hand in Defenders. While still acting as a vigilante to protect the city after Daredevil's "death", he's moved in with Colleen and even gotten a job as a furniture mover. While he is still rich, he's shown trying to live a simple life and looks happy about it. That being said, he's still somewhat impulsive and making decisions that go not just poorly for him, but also bring him to his lowest point since we first met the character. It all leads to him making a revelation about himself and a very mature decision about his future.
* Colleen Wing: Much like the first season, Colleen is a great character who's as entertaining as Danny, and I just love the relationship between the two. They're partners in crime fighting as well as romantic ones. She's usually more level headed and does more of the talking compared to Danny which makes the partnership work in my opinion. What's interesting though is that while she is helping Danny in his efforts, she tries her best to stay out of the fight, retiring her trademark katana she used in season one and the Defenders for most of the season. It's one of those "just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in" situations. As the season progresses, their relationship is tested, and despite how you'll feel about where they stand in the end, it certainly seemed inevitable.
* Davos: While we met Davos last season, we delve a lot deeper into his character as he is the main villain this time around. And much like other Marvel Netflix villains, we have yet another case of having a messed up childhood. What's different though is that he basically had parents who had very high expectations, particularly a "tiger mother"; they had expected him to become the Iron Fist instead of Danny, leading his mother to be extremely disappointed that it didn't happen. It really explains a lot about him, but they really shouldn't have put that much pressure on him his whole life; of course it's going to mess him up if things don't go according to plan. And if they were so sure about him, why not forgo ceremony and just make him the chosen one and not give Danny a chance? The actions Davos takes this season leads to something akin to "Superior Spider-Man", making Danny's mission his own but with a more lethal approach, including a "might makes right" and "with me or against me" mentality. He doesn't see himself as a villain, and yet that's what makes Davos another one the best villains of the Netflix shows.
* Ward Meachum: Ward's still kind of a dick from last season, but he's working to improve himself and his relationships, including a side story where he's part of a support group; you'll truly sympathize with him. Even his relationship with Danny is in a better place than last season, with some friendly jabbing much like brothers would do. Overall, the range of Tom Pelphrey's acting makes Ward one of he best characters of the season.
* Joy Meachum: My mixed feelings about Joy from last season kind of continue, but it's based on which half of the season you look at. When it starts, she's part of the plan with Davos to get revenge on Danny. Her reasoning though is very similar to Harry Osborn's motivation in the original Spider-Man trilogy. She places more blame on the good people she feels wronged her, overlooking the dark things her father was involved in and apparently has the inability to see the bigger picture of what was going on at the time. Part of me understands her reasoning, but it can be kind of frustrating, and makes her come off as somewhat privileged, looking for someone to pin the bad things that happened to her on rather than try overcome her hardships and become a better person because of it. That being said, she does have a change of heart and attempts to make things right, so she does have some redemption in my eyes. She plays it off like she's doing it for herself, but I can tell she's still got some heart in her like I saw in season one.
* Mary Walker: Now this one's real interesting to examine. Played by Alice Eve, we're introduced this season to a new character based on the villain Typhoid Mary from the comics. This version is a former special ops soldier who developed a split personality, which is something we had yet to see in the MCU. There are two sides to this character: there's "Walker", the soldier with fighting skills that even give Danny some trouble, and "Mary", the sweet timid artist who develops a crush on Danny. I give credit to the writers and Alice Eve for making the two personalities genuinely feel different, from their interests, clothing choices, and hair and make-up. In some of her early episodes though, "Walker" talks in a soft quiet voice that makes it hard for her to understand sometimes; she got better but I'm not sure if she actually started to speak up or I knew to make sure to tune my ears differently when she came on. I will admit that as entertaining as her character was and the potential storylines with her in the future, part of me felt she wasn't completely needed, like things could have happened without her, but I digress.
Overall, while season two of Iron Fist isn't as groundbreaking as other Marvel Netflix seasons, I still found it very enjoyable and a much needed improvement over the first season.
As for where the future will take these characters, right now, both Luke Cage and Iron Fit have yet to be renewed for a third season. Considering the status quo shifts both second seasons ended on, I think it would be interesting to see these characters' stories continue by bringing them together for a "Heroes for Hire" series. I know that's something I keep bringing up, but damn it, there's so much potential in the idea and I'll continue to hope it happens at some point down the line.
