Finn Jones Defends Iron Fist: “Danny Is Not A White Savior”

Marvel's expert martial arts practitioner, Iron Fist, has been the subject of criticism from fans even before the character got its own video series on Netflix. In Marvel Comics, Danny Rand is nothing but a wealthy white child who finds himself lost in the mountains of Tibet. There he stumbles in K'un-Lun ,the City of the Immortals where Danny trains to be the city's greatest fighter.

Even during his days in comics, Iron Fist has been criticized as a white savior figure something that fans hoped would drop away if Marvel decided to cast an Asian star for the role. Instead Marvel and Netflix decided to stick to the comics, and now in an interview with Nerdist, Iron Fist star Finn Jones defends his superhero role.

"I understand where this frustration comes from. I understand the need for more diversity in television and films, especially for Asian actors. I understand that frustration. I agree with it, and I stand in solidarity with that voice. Now what frustrated me about this particular case is that people haven't seen the show. They don't know what we're doing it with it. And actually, what we're doing with it is very interesting and we're tackling issues of what people are upset about. Danny is not a white savior. Danny can't even save himself, let alone an entire race of people."

Jones also spoke of diversity in K'un-Lun, saying that:

"people from all over the world, all different cultures come from K'un-Lun, so it isn't just this Asian-specific culture. You have people from Brazil there, you have people from Europe there. It's a multicultural intergalactic alternate dimension."

Though fans were worried about the white savior figure complex dominating Iron Fist after Marvel and Netflix decided against casting an Asian actor for the role, it seems like the studios are taking a different route to present diversity. Let's see how it fares when it releases this year.

Iron First premieres on Netflix on March 17.

Read: Dragon Shou-Lao Confirmed To Appear in Netflix's Iron Fist