The release of the first season of Jessica Jones on Netflix has been met with acclaim from numerous sources, raising the excitement level of fans in the process in the remaining series that will be released as part of the Netflix-Marvel partnership, focusing on Luke Cage and Iron Fist respectively. With the former already well into production, and Mike Colter’s portrayal of the character on Jessica Jones already garnering interest, the fourth series, Iron Fist, made key strides last week towards development with the selection of tv writer Scott Buck as showrunner for the series. Now the attention turns towards the selection of a performer to play the lead character, and there is already someone who’d be a great fit for the role; Maggie Q.
Maggie Q has been a standout performer in a number of movies and tv shows over the past few years, including Live Free or Die Hard, Mission: Impossible III, and Priest. In all these roles, she’s shown a physical prowess and adept capability at executing fight scenes that would make her a perfect fit for the role of kung fu master Iron Fist. In addition, in both her roles on The CW’s Nikita and CBS’s Stalker, Maggie Q has proven herself more than capable of carrying a show, with the former building a particularly strong case in all aspects, as her charm and acting ability made the show work, while the action-oriented nature of the series allowed for many demonstrations of her skills as an action heroine, all of which would likely be key ingredients in the Iron Fist tv series.
The key question this selection raises is with the character of Iron Fist himself, who has always been portrayed as male throughout comic book history. However, there is nothing in the character’s formative story, personality, or character beats that hinge on Iron Fist being a man. Losing one’s parents and vowing revenge on the one who caused their direct and indirect deaths, and spending nearly a decade training to be a skilled fighter, are traits that can be universal, and are not limited to any gender. The more fantastical elements, such as fighting a dragon, are equally universal. In addition, not only is there a lack of downside to casting a woman as Iron Fist, the selection of someone like Maggie Q adds some much-needed diversity to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the television division of Marvel has been effective in bringing female superheroes to the fore, from Agents of SHIELD‘s Daisy Johnson to Jessica Jones herself, the selection of Maggie Q in this role would be key in showing Marvel’s commitment on this front. The Defenders themselves would visibly come from several backgrounds, making their uniting factor all that much stronger, and Marvel would have their first onscreen superhero who isn’t black or white. As the hashtage #AAIronFist on twitter proves, not only would this additional diversity be welcome, it might add to the show’s audience when it does premiere.
These are just a few of the factors that make Maggie Q an excellent fit for the part of Iron Fist. Her proven capability in various roles means she’s well deserving of another leading vehicle, much like Krysten Ritter was before she won the part of Jessica Jones, and her willingness to play both heroes and villains means that she’ll be willing and able to deliver no matter what direction the writers choose to take the show and character. Add to this her strong screen presence and ability to more than hold her own in fight scenes, and Maggie Q becomes a great selection for the role of Iron Fist, a dream casting selection that hopefully comes to fruition down the line.