It’s not surprising that one of the biggest panels of New York Comic Con featured Marvel’s Netflix TV shows, all of which happened to have filmed in NYC. Aside from the hometown aspect of the projects, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage have already earned accolades as the some of the best superhero shows currently being produced. Next year, they will be joined by Iron Fist, The Punisher, and the team up miniseries, The Defenders.
Marvel TV’s Jeph Loeb started the panel with footage from the first three series, before segueing into clips from Iron Fist. Loeb warned the fans not to leave the panel early, as he had a major surprise planned. Loeb also noted that the first season of Iron Fist has wrapped, but before he could continue, Erik LaRay Harvey made a quick appearance on the stage. Loeb thanked him for keeping his pivotal role in Luke Cage a secret, and they played one of Harvey’s most memorable scenes from the first season.
Finally, Iron Fist himself, Finn Jones came to the stage with his co-stars, Jessica Henwick, Jessica Stroup, David Wenham, Tom Pelphrey, and Rosario Dawson. Almost immediately, a clip played of Jones’ Danny Rand returning to NYC as he attempted to return to the Rand Enterprises building that his family owned. Since Danny had been gone a few decades, his identity was not immediately believed, so he had to fight his way inside…but it was a very merciful style of martial arts. Essentially, Danny went out of his way to avoid seriously injuring the security guards he was fighting.
After the clip, Jones shared his excitement about landing the title role of Iron Fist, and noted that he had to train for three hours every morning to keep up with Danny Rand’s fighting styles. Stroup and Pelphrey play Joy and Ward Meachum on the show, and they said that they tested for the roles opposite each other. The next clip featured the Ward siblings rejecting Rand’s claim to his family’s company. But Danny had a new way to fight back: he hired Jeri Hogarth from the Jessica Jones series.
The next clip featured Iron Fist in action as he attempted to prevent gangsters from kidnapping Joy while fighting his way through a hallway. That seems to be a running tradition in the Marvel Netflix shows. Then we got to see a clip of Henwick’s Colleen Wing in action, as she destroyed a male opponent in a cage match.
One final clip from the Iron Fist series reunited Danny with Harold Meachum, which revealed the series’ connection to Daredevil: Danny has come to NYC to fight the ninja clan known as the Hand.
The clips have not been released online yet, but Marvel did release the new trailer for Iron Fist.
Related: Marvel Debuts Trailers for ‘Iron Fist’ & ‘Luke Cage’
After the Iron Fist cast left the stage, Jon Bernthal came out to talk about his leading role in The Punisher. Loeb noted that the series is in production now, and Deborah Ann Woll will be reprising her role as Karen Page from Daredevil in the new series. Bernthal briefly spoke about what playing Frank Castle means to him and to fans in military and law enforcement.
To close out the panel, Jones returned to the stage to introduce the other Defenders: Charlie Cox, Mike Colter, and Krysten Ritter. It was very similar to the way that Marvel Studios first assembled the Avengers actors at San Diego Comic-Con a few years ago. This time, the biggest cheers seemed to be for Colter’s Luke Cage.
As promised, Loeb delivered a pretty big surprise for the end: Sigourney Weaver has joined The Defenders as the lead villain. She had previously teased a Marvel role earlier this month, but it’s not clear who she will play on the miniseries.
Which Marvel villainess should Weaver portray? Share your picks below!
