Iron Fist (character)

Iron Fist (Daniel Thomas "Danny" Rand) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane and inspired by kung fu films, Iron Fist first appeared in Marvel Premiere #15 (May 1974). The character is a practitioner of martial arts and the wielder of a mystical force known as the Iron Fist, which allows him to summon and focus his chi. This ability is obtained from the city of K'un-L'un, which appears on Earth every 10 years. According to his co-creator Thomas, the creators of Iron Fist used some story elements from Bill Everett's 1939 hero Amazing-Man, which itself had borrowed heavily from James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon and its 1937 film adaptation by the director Frank Capra.

Iron Fist starred in his own solo series in the 1970s, and shared the title Power Man and Iron Fist for several years with Luke Cage, partnering with Cage to form the superhero team Heroes for Hire. Rand frequently appeared with the Daughters of the Dragon duo Misty Knight and Colleen Wing – with Rand often seen in a relationship with the former, marking the first interracial romance in Marvel Comics history. Danny Rand has starred in numerous solo titles since, including The Immortal Iron Fist, which expanded on his origin story and the history of the Iron Fist. This series establishes that there is a long tradition of Iron Fist incarnations in the Marvel Universe, and that Danny Rand is only the most recent.

In later years, Iron Fist occasionally assumes the role of the Thunderer, becoming a mentor to several young heroes and martial artists, including the new Power Man Victor Alvarez and the young monk Pei. Rand eventually relinquishes his title and powers, which are later passed on to his successor Lin Lie. Rand meets his untimely death at the hands of the Ch'i-Lin, a longtime foe of the Iron Fists, but is resurrected and bestowed with new powers as the Ghost Fist in the series The Undead Iron Fist.

Iron Fist has been adapted to appear in several animated television series and video games. 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). Other incarnations of Iron Fist have appeared in the Marvel Studios Animation series What If...? and Eyes of Wakanda.