Marvel's Iron Fist Review: 3 Ups And 7 Downs

2. The Supporting Players From Other Shows

As the final piece of the Defenders puzzle, Iron Fist ties to the upcoming series and those that came before it in a few different ways, and one of the biggest is the presence of multiple supporting characters cropping up here.

While Jessica Jones exists only as someone to be heavily referenced - working for Joy Meachum, no less - there are key roles for Madame Gao (Daredevil), Jeri Hograth (Jones), and of course the Netflix Marvel Universe's version of Nick Fury, Claire Temple.

Of these, it's Hogarth who has the slightest role, appearing at both the beginning and end to get Danny out of a couple of very tight spots. Even in the short time given to her, however, her snark and wit stands well above most of those around her. Gao is a little harder to pin down, since they're still keeping her as a somewhat mysterious character, and making her more sympathetic towards the end is probably a mistake (given she's one of the Big Bads behind the Hand). Still, in a show lacking a main villain, she's the closest we come to a convincing one, and an entertainingly devilish presence.

Once again, Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple proves to be a constant source of excellence on these shows. She seems to get better every time she appears, and you can see the benefits of her being in all of them. She's someone you can really care about and relate to, providing sardonic humour and pragmatic usefulness, and of course is the one to call the people out on their bulls*it. Plus her adoption of the phrase "Sweet Christmas!" is a nice touch.