Can Luke Cage redeem Iron Fist?

Iron Fist is a confirmed guest on Netflix’s highly-anticipated second season of Marvel’s Luke Cage. Will it be enough to redeem the character’s critical slump?

Spoilers from The Defenders and season one of Luke Cage and Iron Fist below.

When Netflix released the first season of Luke Cage back in 2016, it continued Marvel’s run of critical hits. Daredevil and Jessica Jones were ranking high on top-ten lists, with the latter earning the studio their first Emmy.

Iron Fist, however, was somewhat less of a critical darling. The casting of Danny Rand was the first major controversy, sending hundreds to Twitter asking if the show would have worked better with an Asian lead. That, and impressions of Finn Jones’ acting chops didn’t help the cause. Much of the criticism aimed at The Defenders zeroed in on how the show featured so much Iron Fist to the exclusion of other more popular heroes in Marvel’s roster.

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But with Danny Rand and lover/badass Colleen Wing joining the second season of Luke Cage, Marvel has a chance to redeem the slowest horse in an otherwise stellar stable. Here are the reasons we’re most excited to see the crossover.

Heroes For Hire

One of the best parts of The Defenders was seeing Luke take Danny to task. “I know privilege when I see it,” he says, echoing viewer complaints about the series and providing Marvel an opportunity to show they’re self-aware and take their audiences seriously.

But who are we kidding. We’re here for the epic team-up we’ve been waiting for since hearing the Defenders would be coming to the small screen: Heroes For Hire. With Danny’s impetuous youth and Luke’s sombre experience playing off each other perfectly, expect major sparks (and fists) to fly.

More Colleen Wing

While there were major criticisms about the Iron Fist himself, critics were fawning over Colleen Wing. Played by Jessica Henwick, she formed the true heart of Iron Fist’s original run. With her serious fighting skills and ability to show up in a jam, you could say that she’s the franchise’s fifth Defender.

Add to that her serious chemistry with Simone Missick’s Misty Knight and you get a dream team all its own. Which is all straight from the comics – Luke and Danny form Heroes For Hire while Colleen and Misty fight crime under the moniker ‘Daughters of the Dragon.’ Netflix has even released a trailer giving us a taste of the major trouble these ladies will bring down in Luke Cage’s new season.

Which brings us to our final point, if you weren’t excited already…

Misty Night’s Bionic Arm

The Defenderstreated audiences to a taste of what the Daughters of the Dragon could do while introducing a major plot twist: Misty gets her right arm cut off in a fight.

While the comics had Tony Stark himself build a custom, bionic arm for her, the Netflix Marvel shows swap in Danny Rand. As a major billionaire himself, this is no stretch, and goes far to bring the Iron Fist back into good graces.

Next: Luke Cage returns next week: Here's what you need to know.

Do you think Iron Fist and Colleen Wing joining Luke Cage is a good idea, or a great idea? Tell us in the comments!

Netflix will be releasing all thirteen episodes on June 22nd.