Finn Jones portrayed the character in the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Netflix television series Iron Fist (2017–2018), The Defenders (2017), and the second season of Luke Cage (2018).

Writer/co-creator Roy Thomas wrote in a text piece in Marvel Premiere #15 that Iron Fist's origin and creation owe much to the Bill Everett character, John Aman, the Amazing-Man, created in 1939.

[Publisher] Stan [Lee] liked the name, so I got hold of Gil and he brought in his Amazing Man influences, and we designed the character together...[1]The film mentioned by Thomas is King Boxer, aka Five Fingers of Death (1972), which presents the Iron Fist technique.

[2] Thomas further discussed the character's creation stating, "When Stan Lee gave me a verbal approval to star him in a series, I contacted Gil Kane and we worked out the costume and story.

At Gil's urging, we took some story elements from Bill Everett's 1939 hero Amazing-Man, which itself had borrowed heavily from James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon and the first movie made from it, which introduced "Shangri-La" to the world.

The story was both written and drawn by Byrne, who found the manner of Iron Fist's death objectionable and later commented, "In one of those amazing examples of Marvel serendipity, it turned out to be fairly easy not only to resurrect Danny, but to make it seem like that was the plan all along.

[13][14] The five-issue limited series, written by Alyssa Wong and art by Michael YG, was released in February 2022, which revealed Lin Lie as the new Iron Fist and Rand appearing in a supporting role.

Released in August 2024, the one-shot featured Danny Rand in several short stories set throughout his life that included Wolverine, Lin Lie, the Daughters of the Dragon and Heroes for Hire in supporting roles.

[18] Notable adversaries in his early career include Sabretooth, the mysterious Master Khan (whom the ninja that killed Meachum once served), and the Steel Serpent, the exiled son of Lei Kung who coveted the Iron Fist power.

Namor ultimately dissolves Oracle as well as Heroes for Hire, Inc. Iron Fist later loses his powers to Junzo Muto,[23] the young leader of the Hand, and subsequently becomes the guardian of a pack of displaced dragons in Tokyo.

[28] After the arrest of Captain America, Rand joins the New Avengers, an underground group provided with secure accommodation by Doctor Strange and which includes his former teammate Luke Cage.

[volume & issue needed] After the battle, Rand is summoned by his master, Lei Kung (who is also the father of Steel Serpent) to compete in a tournament that will decide the cycle according to which each of the Seven Cities of Heaven appears on Earth.

He also sets up the Thunder Dojo in Harlem to help inner-city children, buys back the old Heroes for Hire building as the new Rand International Headquarters and his new home, while offering Luke Cage a position at the company.

Upon returning, Iron Fist discovers the city in ruins and Lei Kung dead at the hands of the One, a chi-powered robot who believed itself to be Danny's father Wendell Rand.

Iron Fist is defeated by the One, but is rescued by his childhood friend Sparrow and the One's creator Fooh, who nurse him back to health and warn him that the One and Davos were working together to turn New York into New K'un-Lun.

During Iron Fist's and the One's second confrontation, the One opens an artificial portal between Earth and the Heavens in an attempt to retrieve Wendell's deceased wife Heather Rand from the afterlife, the but Xian fire god Zhu Rong emerges in Manhattan to punish the mortals for upsetting the universal order.

[44] In the All-New, All-Different Marvel era, Danny and Luke are forced to return to crime fighting after former Heroes for Hire secretary Jennifer "White Jennie" Royce becomes embroiled in a gang war with Black Mariah against Tombstone.

At the urging of the Xian goddess of Mercy Quan Yin, Iron Fist and the others use Fooh's portal technology to manifest the Heavenly Cities on Earth so that other heroes, including Okoye and Sunspot, can join in the defense against the hordes of zombies and villains.

[51] While a powerless Danny fights several demons attacking a Chinese antique shop in Flushing for a mysterious green shard, he is helped by Lin Lie - formerly the superhero Sword Master - who is now garbed in the mantle of the Iron Fist and possesses the chi of Shou-Lao.

[60] Rand is also a skilled acrobat, gymnast, and a master of all of K'un-Lun's martial arts, as well as various fighting styles from Earth, including Shaolin Kung Fu, Aikido,[61] Fujian White Crane,[62] Judo,[63] Karate,[63] Muay Thai,[62] Ninjutsu,[64] Wushu, and Wing Chun.

Lei Kung had Fan Fei exiled from K'un-Lun, believing Shou-Lou was dead, and she traveled the world; fighting Deviants and the Gorgilla Clan of Man-Apes along the way.

[67] Fan Fei later banded together with Agamotto, Lady Phoenix, Odin, and Stone Age versions of Black Panther, Ghost Rider, and Star Brand to fight off a Celestial named the Fallen.

[69] Centuries later, when Danny and the Immortal weapons arrive in the Eighth City at the behest of Lei Kung to free the wrongfully convicted prisoners, Quan has them captured and forces them to fight to the death in numerous matches.

As a local village battled with a Chinese general intent on conquering K'un-Lun, which had been struck by a plague, Li utilized his newly discovered hypnotic fist technique to dissuade the soldiers.

A physically and mentally worn Bei returned home to K'un-Lun, relinquishing his powers so that the cycle of the Iron Fist could begin again and took a wife who bore him thirteen sons.

[80] Bei Bang-Wen's successor to the Iron Fist, Kwai Jun-Fan ventured the Wild West of Texas circa 1878 AD where he was killed by Zhou Cheng under the influence of Ch'i-Lin.

[81] Born and raised in K'un-Lun after his parents' airship crashed in the city in the late 19th century, Orson Randall became the Iron Fist after besting Shou-Lao when he was seventeen years old, becoming the first Westerner to do so.

[94] A number of alternate universes in Marvel Comics publications have allowed writers to introduce variations of Iron Fist, in which the character's origins, behavior, and morality differ from the mainstream setting.

[113] Comic book creator Rob Liefeld also defended the character, denying that Rand's story was racist and argued that changing his race to Asian was "reverse whitewashing".

In May 2000, Marvel Studios brought Artisan Entertainment to co-finance an Iron Fist film,[131] hiring Ray Park to star and John Turman to write the script in January 2001.