While trying to save someone else’s life, Danny accepts an invitation to a very interesting fight in ‘Immortal Emerges From Cave,’which places a new spin on an old comic book story. If you’re not familiar with the comic book series on which the show is based, I’ve got the run down on all the characters that pop up from the page. Check out all the Easter eggs in this episode of ‘Iron Fist!’ Warning: This list assumes you’re caught up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and that you’ve seen the episodes of ‘Iron Fist’ up to this point. You’ve been warned – spoilers ahead.
Marvel Cinematic Universe references
"The incredible green guy" is, of course, a nod to the Hulk. If the word “incredible” didn’t clue you in, the color green probably did. A reference to the Hulk without actually calling him the Hulk is par for the course with Marvel’s television series. Considering the public probably doesn't know his name is "the Hulk" amongst his peers, it makes sense.
Just in case you forgot what happened between Claire Temple and Luke Cage during his solo series, she spouts his signature catchphrase when dealing with a few bad guys at Metro General. While this doesn’t tell us where things were left between the two, it does remind the audience that they were an item.
More of a pop culture reference than anything else, the karaoke choice by the assassin at the top of the episode is probably no coincidence.
A-ha’s music video for "Take On Me" features a comic strip being made real, much like all of Marvel’s Netflix series make characters on the page into flesh and blood.
Comic book Easter eggs
When Danny receives an invitation to a duel, it appears he’s fighting a few of the comic book’s Immortal Weapons. There are seven in the comics, one for each of the cities of heaven, and typically, they fight in heaven itself, a place they all have to work together to open the gates.
Like Danny as the Immortal Iron Fist, they each have their own titles.
The woman Danny fights is clearly the Bride of Nine Spiders. She even has B 09 S on the door to her lab. She made her comic book debut ten years ago and is said to have the “coldest blood imaginable.” She’s the champion for the Kingdom of Spiders and that singing spider venom she mentions is also a creation of the comics.
It’s not clear who the two men are that Danny fights before her, though the most likely candidate seems to be the Dog Brothers, one of whom actually takes on the Bride of Nine Spiders in a tournament in the comics. The last looks to be Scythe, one of the first super villains Danny faced in the comics, not an Immortal Weapon.
Scythe made his debut in the second comic book story to feature Iron Fist. He was a mercenary who was looking to collect a bounty on Danny’s head. While the show has him enjoying a plethora of metal weapons, in the comics, he preferred a scythe with a chain attached, hence his name.
The man that Danny keeps talking to that no one else can see? That would be Lei Kung the Thunderer, whose name gets a mention in this episode.
He’s a master of martial arts for K'un-Lun and trains the inhabitants. It stands to reason that he took on much of Danny’s training and we’ll probably see quite a bit more of him.
Madame Gao makes mention of knowing Danny’s father, which does seem to pull the story a little closer to its comic book roots, but it remains to be seen just how close it will go. In the comics, Wendell actually trained for and wanted the honor of becoming the Iron Fist, though things didn’t exactly go his way.
Up next
In ‘Felling Tree With Roots,’ we get to know Madame Gao a little bit better and get a whole lot more comic book nods. "Iron Fist" also is about to make a whole lot of references to the goings on in other Marvel properties in episode seven, from the Netflix series that came before it to "Agents of SHIELD." If you haven't been getting your fill of Easter Eggs yet, you will next.
