The Marvel Cinematic Universe is an ever expanding place. In addition to the many silver screen adventures that have hit theaters over the past nine years, there are also a handful of quality TV shows, the best of which are produced over at Netflix. The fourth of these shows will be released this weekend, with Iron Fist welcoming the final member of the Defenders. And while fans are eager to see Danny Rand kick ass and inevitably interact with Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple, Iron Fist will have to make a few creative changes to the source material. And now we know of one major character who definitely won't be showing up.
Iron Fist star Finn Jones recently spoke to Yahoo about the upcoming series. Eventually the subject of comic book dragon Shou-Lao was brought up, and Jones revealed that Danny Rand won't be battling the mythical creature in the new show.
I'd love to have the budget for these shows to have a full-on Game of Thrones style dragon. But unfortunately you know, we have budget restraints. That's the nature of the show. . . . We do allude to it in Iron Fist, in a very intelligent way. And definitely in The Defenders... but I think, you know, we've got to be realistic.
Well, that sucks. Who doesn't want to see Iron Fist go toe to toe with a damn dragon? Nobody.
In the comics, Shou-Lao actually granted Danny Rand the powers of Iron Fist. It was his battle with the dragon that resulted in giving Rand the power of the Iron Fist, and making him a bonafide superhero. It should be interesting to see how the MCU series grants Rand his powers, and whether or not he'll actually wear a cool costume.
Alas, it looks like Iron Fist simply doesn't have the subject to bring a full blown dragon to the MCU, although that shouldn't be much of a surprise. Part of why Game of Thrones' dragons look so stunning is because of the fantasy series' giant budget and production timeline. Since Game films nearly a year in advance, the visual affects artists have months to create a life-like dragon. But Iron Fist had significantly less time and money at its disposal than Game of Thrones.
While diehard Marvel fans may be disappointed to learn that Shou-Lao won't be in Iron Fist, it shouldn't be all that much of a surprise. Marvel's Netflix shows have been thoroughly based in reality, despite characters like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage having superpowers. The shows are all set within New York City and usually have very character driven problems that mirror the more comic book-esque adventures. So having Danny Rand fighting off an immortal dragon might have been a little too much suspension of disbelief.
Iron Fist premiers on Netflix in its entirety on March 17th.
