From showrunnerM. Raven Metzner, Season 2 ofMarvel’s Iron Fist(available to stream at Netflix) raises the stakes, in every way, as Danny Rand (Finn Jones), the Immortal Iron Fist, throws himself into his mission to defend the streets of New York City. With the day-to-day oversight of Rand Enterprises in the hands of Ward Meachum (Tom Pelphrey) and Joy Meachum (Jessica Stroup) on a mission to take what she feels she’s owed, Danny is trying to get a feel for domestic life with girlfriend Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) until the return of his old friend Davos (Sacha Dhawan) throws his balance off, in a way that could derail everything.
During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actor Finn Jones talked about working very hard to make the second season ofIron Fistas good as it could be, transitioning into a rhythm with new showrunner Raven Metzner, how Danny is feeling about domestic life with Colleen, his favorite fights scenes, balancing neighborhood threats like the Triad with personal threats like Davos, what Danny thinks of Misty Knight (Simone Missick), who Danny Rand is, if he’s not the Iron Fist, the doors that they’ll be blowing off by the end of the season, and his hopes for a Season 3. Be aware that there are somespoilersdiscussed.
Collider: I’ve watched screeners of the six episodes and really enjoyed it. I loved seeing how things have changed and evolved for the second season, and there’s a lot of really cool fight scenes.
FINN JONES: Thank you very much. I really appreciate that, and I assure you the second half is really quite special. The last four episodes really take the show to a whole different level. And then, hopefully, if we get a Season 3, it’s going to create some very interesting storytelling and character development. A lot of really good people that really cared about the project, and really cared about the Iron Fist character and mythology, came together for this season, and we all worked very hard to attempt to make this season as good as it could be. It’s nice that we’re finally getting to put it out there, and people are getting to see it.
By the end of this season, will we feel a sense of resolution, or will we have all new questions to wonder about?
JONES: There will definitely be a sense of resolution, for sure, but as usual, when you get resolution, there are many more doors that get opened, and some doors get blown off. There are some jaw-dropping moments towards the end, especially in the last two episodes, that really lead the way for some interesting storytelling and character development.
Even more than inThe Defenders, I loved the interaction between Danny and Luke, in Season 2 ofLuke Cage, and the extra touch of Danny wearing the Sweet Xmas hoodie was just brilliant. What did you most enjoy about working with Cheo Hodari Coker, going over there, for that show, and getting his perspective on who your character is?
JONES: It was interesting because Raven Metzner also had a say into that episode, as well, so it really was a collaboration. But, I loved going over toLuke Cage. It was nice to head over there, just for the episode. It was fun. The character wasn’t really going through any dramatic, life-threatening problems, and he was able to go over there and be the healer, just to help Luke out. Luke was the one that was struggling, and Danny was able to go out there and try to fix the problem, which I don’t think we’ve really seen before. Usually, it’s Danny that’s the one in trouble, and it’s the people around him that are trying to save him, so it was nice to flip that. The Marvel Netflix television universe is one big family, so it just felt like I was just going back to set and saying hi to everyone. We have the same make-up artist, camera team, and some of the same writers, so it always feels like you’re just heading back home, and you’re hanging out and creating scenes with awesome people.
After doing the first season, and establishing the world and the characters, were you nervous about starting over with a new showrunner, or did that feel like a pretty smooth transition?
JONES: It was incredibly smooth. There was a lot of serendipity surrounding the whole of Season 2, to be honest. It was cosmically smooth. There were some wild things that happened, which just were like, “Whoa, really?,” that I thought the stars had really aligned for the second season. When I found out we got picked up for the second season, the only thing in my head was that I just wanted to come back into Season 2 and bring 110% of my energy and focus to the character and to the show. That’s all I had the space for, in my mind and my body, and that’s what I did. From August to December, I trained for five months, and then once Clayton [Barber], the stunt coordinator, was taken onboard, I started training with him. I was speaking to Raven about script development, early on, and making sure that we all were on the same page with how we wanted the character to feel this season, and it just went from there. It was a very smooth, enjoyable, exciting process, from start to finish.
When the series picks up this season, we get to see Danny Rand in domestic life with Colleen. How is he feeling about domestic life? Is it working for him, or is he finding it hard to adjust to that?
JONES: I think like most young 20 somethings, doing everything for the first time can be daunting, but equally exciting, whether it’s getting a new job, or moving in with your girlfriend. It’s exciting, but you don’t really know what you’re doing until you do it. The only difference with Danny is that he’s also going out at night and he’s on the streets, night after night, trying to clean up the streets and be a vigilante. And so, while I think it is working out with Colleen and they’re both enjoying it, they’re spending lots of valuable time together, and they’re very much in love, Danny’s vigilante side is slowly starting to wear him down. He’s trying to juggle all of these issues, and it’s running him down. It’s also starting to run the relationship down, as well. One of the main themes, across the board, this season is balance and duality, for all of the characters. At the beginning, you’re seeing Danny as slightly out of balance. And over the course of the season, we go on a journey of how all of these characters seek to find balance in their lives.
Even in just the first six episodes, there are quite a few fight scenes, and they’re all quite different and really interesting, in their own ways. Did you have a favorite fight scene or sequence to shoot, this season?
JONES: Oh, wow, there were so many, actually. All of them are fun. The great thing about the fight sequences this season was that we weren’t just trying to make a fight sequence just for a cool fight sequence. Everything has to make sense to the story and has to have an emotional throughline. There were a lot of fights that I liked because they were stylistically cool. I liked the fight sequence in the third episode, when I go to the parlay and punch the table. Stylistically, that’s a really interesting looking fight. But I love the fight in K’un-Lun because of the emotional depths that both me and Sacha [Dhawan] went through in that fight. That was just really fun because we shot that for three days. We didn’t allow ourselves to stop. We wanted ourselves to be physically exhausted, emotionally, for that fight because we had to get ourselves to that point, as actors. And then, with the fight choreography on top of it, it was literally a beating. And the fight sequence in the subway with Alice [Eve] was really interesting because we didn’t shut down the subway. It was a Friday night, and we had fans from the Mets game, who were wasted, coming onto the platform and yelling at us and being a nuisance. And then, Alice would turn and give them a mouthful and tell them to shut up, and they quickly shut up, once she told them to. It’s funny, every fight sequence this season really had its own character, and I enjoyed all of them, for many different reasons.
I love how they all really make use of whatever environment they’re in, too. You really use your surroundings, which is cool to watch.
JONES: Yeah. So, this season, it was all about bringing the characters and the story and the fights onto the streets of New York. We got out of the Rand offices, and we wanted to get into the heart of New York, so the more that we could use New York, the better. Whether that was in the fight sequences or the storytelling, we wanted the show to be on the streets and to be relatable and to feel authentic.
Along with all of the crazy stuff that is directly affecting Danny this season, he’s also having to deal with the Triad, which affects his city. What was it like to have that balance between the neighborhood threats vs. the personal threats?
JONES: It’s a lot, and Danny is losing it because of it. He’s trying to juggle all of these balls. Danny’s a good guy, but one man can only do so much. By Episode 4, he can’t handle it anymore. And then, Misty Knight shows up and finally, it’s like, “Wow, okay, cool! The girls have shown up to help Danny out.” It’s nice to see how that balance happens. It’s about friends coming on board and helping each other out, and problem solving together. From then onwards, Danny starts to find his balance again, but it’s a lot for Danny to take on.
I love the energy and vibe that Misty Knight brings because she’s got such a fun attitude. What does Danny think of her, and how does he feel about the relationship that she has with Colleen?
JONES: Danny loves Misty, as a dear friend. Danny helped Misty gets her arm, so they’re very close. And obviously, he loves seeing his girlfriend, Colleen, hang out with Misty. That’s what Colleen needs. Colleen is quite an isolated person. She’s a workaholic, and she keeps herself to herself a lot. So, when he sees that Misty’s come to the neighborhood and there’s a friendship blossoming there, I think he feels complete joy that they are hanging out, finding each other, and working together so brilliantly. He’s got nothing but love and admiration for their friendship.
There are quite a few threats this season, from the Triad and the street kids, to Joy Meachum and Typhoid Mary, but Davos is really the most dangerous of all because he’s got this singular focus that directly affects Danny. How hard is that going to be for Danny to overcome, especially knowing exactly what Davos is after? How does that affect Danny, and everyone around him?
JONES: Davos is the most dangerous because Davos and Danny share a very deep connection, and at the heart of that connection is love. They love each other. They grew up together, and they’re brothers. They trained together. In times of need, when they were younger, they looked after each other, so there’s this really deep connection with them. The reason why he’s so dangerous is because he can play on Danny’s emotions, and he knows Danny better than anyone. He also holds a mirror up to Danny. Danny knows that he’s messed, and he can see Davos’ point of view, which messes with Danny’s mind a little bit. But at the same time, Danny can also see that Davos is taking it a step too far. He’s indoctrinated into this belief system, which isn’t really realistic in the world of New York. That’s one of the reasons why Davos is the most dangerous. And to everyone else, Davos is so dangerous, because he’s maniacal in his relentless drive to attain the Iron Fist, but then also rule with an Iron Fist. There is no gray. There’s only right and wrong. He’s very virtuous, and that makes someone very dangerous because it’s very hard to break a belief set. That’s one of the obstacles that Danny is up against, this season.
Obviously, the Iron Fist is not just a part of Danny, it sort of is him. So, who is Danny, if he’s not the Iron Fist?
JONES: That is one of the great questions that we tackle this year. Has Danny been hiding behind the Iron Fist, all this time? Has he been resting on the power, and not really looking deep within and finding his own true balance? That’s a really great question because that’s a question that becomes really, really important, especially towards the end of the season. Danny has to make some decisions and really figure some stuff out. I can’t really say too much without giving something away, but that’s a very important question that Danny is facing, and that the show faces, in general, especially towards the last half.
