We've known for a while now that Marvel has plans to develop film projects for its smaller-brand characters. Most recently, Marvel President Kevin Feige spoke out about the plans, which included features for Iron Fist, Black Panther, and even the Guardians of the Galaxy. It may be a while before we see any movement on the last two, but things are looking good for the first one.
Deadline reports that Marvel has hired writer Rich Wilkes, best known for xXx, to bring Iron Fist to the silver screen. Commonly paired with Luke Cage, another Marvel superhero with a film in the works, Iron Fist is actually Danny Rand, the son of a wealthy New York industrialist who is expertly trained in martial arts for vengeance after his father is betrayed by his best friend and dies. In he final test of his training, Rand does battle with a mystical dragon, which he kills after pulling out his molten heart. After doing so, he has the ability to concentrate his chi into his fists and earns the superhero moniker.
A film adaptation of the character would certainly be action packed, but it's hard to see where it would fit in with the rest of the hyper-real world that Marvel is building for it's characters. As Iron Man director Jon Favreau said in May, everything may change after Thor comes out and introduces a bit of magic, but we won't know until next summer.
