‘Marvel’s Iron Fist’: Finn Jones and Jessica Henwick Preview Hard-Hitting New Season

Iron Fist has a lot to prove–and I mean both the hero and his Netflix show. Season 2 of Marvel’s Iron Fist finds erstwhile billionaire and living weapon Danny Rand thrust into action as the new guardian of New York City. With Daredevil out of the picture after the cataclysmic events of last year’s Defenders, Iron Fist has stepped in to fill the void and punch out crime. But tough as this Iron Fist may be, is the at times overly naive Danny Rand up to the task?

And just like the show’s lead hero, the cast and crew behind Marvel’s Iron Fist also find themselves stepping up to the plate. Unlike the first seasons of his fellow heroes, Iron Fist’s debut outing didn’t make the best first impression. But all that’s changed for Season 2, a new batch of episodes that builds on the solid foundation laid by the characters’ appearances in Defenders and Luke Cage over the past year and delivers an Iron Fist that is leaner and meaner than before. The villains are scarier, the heroes are tougher, and–most importantly–the fights will leave you reeling.

Iron Fist stars Finn Jones (the immortal Iron Fist) and Jessica Henwick (the cunning Colleen Wing) stopped by the Decider office to talk up the show’s killer second season, giving us the lowdown on those fast-paced fight scenes, the arrival of the determined Det. Misty Knight, and even teased the one low-key romance you gotta look out for.

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Decider: Danny Rand’s fighting style has changed dramatically since we first met him. How did the fight prep for Season 2 differ from Season 1?

Finn Jones: This season, we had a lot more lead up time before we started filming. I started training back in August, about five months ahead of schedule, and then we had about a month and a half with the stunt team to learn specific choreography, so just a lot more time.

These fights are so intense. Were there any accidents on set?

Jones: Sacha Dhawan, who plays Davos, he clocked me in the face one time, but it’s all love

Jessica Henwick: When I was on Luke Cage, I punched a guy in the nose and it bled.

Jones: Accidents happen but we get on with it. The show must continue!

Henwick: I wasn’t even fighting him, he was just doing my makeup!

The fight scenes this are also a lot clearer, with longer and wider shots. You can even see your faces during them, making it clear that you’re doing most of the moves.

Jones: [Stunt coordinator] Clayton [Barber] was very adamant this season that all the fight scenes were done by the actors. All of them. I mean, there are doubles as well to help us out but the majority of the fights were done by the actors. So they would make sure there was enough prep time or rehearsal time to get the actors together to repeat, repeat, repeat so then when we got on set it was like second nature.

Jessica, what has the fan reaction been of seeing you and Misty Knight together?

Henwick: The fan reaction has been amazing actually. It was so much fun getting to be on Luke Cage and even though it was only one episode, you saw the beginning of that dynamic. These two women were really from opposite worlds but for some reason they really vibe. And Simone [Missick] and I are kind of the same in that we are very different people but we spark off each other quite well.

There are a lot of female friendships throughout the MCU, from Jessica Jones and Trish Walker to Colleen and Misty, as well as Claire Temple and everyone.

Jones: Iron Fist is a very female centric show, Season 1 was, and Season 2 even more so. And I am super proud of that fact. I think it makes for an interesting dynamic for storytelling.

There are scenes in this season where you have Colleen and Misty, and also Alice Eve as Mary Walker and Jessica Stroup as Joy Meachum. Do those days on set feel different from the others?

Henwick: Yeah. It’s so rare to get to act with another woman. It’s so rare to be in a room with four actresses. There wasn’t a single man in the scene. And really, really layered relationships between the two of them, or in that case the four of them. It’s unusual.

Not to get too deep into comics lore, but I can’t resist: in the comics, Danny and Misty get together. Now that Misty’s on the show, is there anything y’all can tease about any budding romances?

Jones: You’ll have to tune in to find out, I guess

Henwick: I mean I dig it. I think Danny and Misty would be cool together

Jones: Are you asking for a threesome?

Henwick: No, I think Colleen should remove herself from the situation. In Season 1, when colleen was really sick and they kidnap Madame Gao, Madame Gao said to her, “Danny is not destined to be yours, he is promised to another.” So there is a little bit of foreshadowing. I don’t think Colleen and Danny are end game. At all.

I think people mostly ship Colleen and Misty with kicking ass at this point.

Henwick: Yeah, I ship it

Jones: But really the true undercover romance is actually Ward and Misty. If you watch carefully, there is some undercover flirting going on there.

Henwick: It’s hot.

This season is different from any other Marvel/Netflix show in that it’s 10 episodes as opposed to the normal 13. Did you welcome that change?

Jones: So good! I’ve been saying to Netflix since day one, ten episodes is just so much better. Especially for our show with all the fights, you can tell a more cohesive storyline. And the way that [showrunner] Raven [Metzner] split it up this season was three acts. So you notice there is act one, act two, act three, and it just makes sense because you can commit to the story and the evolution of it in a much more cohesive way. And for the fight scenes as well, you have more time to practice. It’s less exhaustive. It just makes so much sense, especially with our show.

Obviously Iron Fist is heavily influenced by martial arts movies. Is there anything you watched to get back into the Iron Fist mindset?

Jones: Mine was all really physical, just like getting myself into that role, making sure physically and mentally I was prepared to take it on

Henwick: I watched some old Jackie Chan stuff because he uses a lot of props and he is always finding really genius ways – like he has got fight scenes on ladders and fight scenes on bamboo poles and fight scenes on scaffolding. So with that kitchen fight, there were moments I would ask the stunt team, “What would Jackie do? He picks up this pan, what would he do?” It’s a different style of fighting in that it’s fun. That’s what Jackie is so good at. He is the everyman, just getting attacked on all sides and it’s fun, and that’s what we wanted with that episode one fight.

Season 2 of Marvel’s Iron Fist premieres on Netflix on September 7

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