Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA Directed an Episode of Iron Fist

Wu-Tang Clan members did some super-cool work on Marvel and Netflix’s Luke Cage, including Method Man’s “Bulletproof Love” song and his Episode 12 cameo, and now RZA will be directing an episode of Iron Fist. Finn Jones, who plays the series’ title character, revealed RZA’s role in a Facebook Live interview with Extra.

“Before I started the role, I actually made a playlist on my iPod of songs that Danny Rand would listen to,” said Jones. “It’s a lot of kind of ’90s hip-hop, like De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan. That kind of music is really what Danny’s jamming to. Actually, we feature that in the series. One of our episodes was directed by RZA himself–episode 6. So, yeah, there’s very close ties with hip-hop music and the Iron Fist series.”

Asked what it was like to work with RZA, Jones said, “He’s a complete dude. Actually really super chill, really has a really good vision of what he wants. He understands that genre, the martial arts genre.”

RZA previously wrote and directed a martial arts movie, coincidentally/appropriately titled The Man with the Iron Fists. His co-writer was Eli Roth (Hostel).

Part of me is pumped to hear that they got RZA to direct. Iron Fist‘s white-male-martial-arts-savior storyline is deeply problematic, but another big part of diversity is diversity behind the camera. Creatives of color–writers, directors, composers, editors–also deserve to have their voices and stories heard, so I’m glad that RZA will get to bring his vision to one of the episodes.

Another part of me is worried about what this show might look like, if it’s about a blonde dude who’s a martial arts master and really into hip-hop. I don’t want this to turn into awkward-appropriation-city. For now, I’m hoping that all these elements can be combined in a respectful representation of New York City’s genuine diversity, one that acknowledges the people of color who created and contributed hip-hop and martial arts in the first place.

Iron Fist also stars Carrie-Anne Moss as lawyer Jeri Hogarth, Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing, David Wenham as Harold Meachum, Jessica Stroup as Joy Meachum, and Tom Pelphrey as Ward Meachum. It’s set to premiere on Netflix on March 17, 2017. The Defenders, which teams up Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Daredevil, will premiere at some point in summer 2017.

(Via Comics Alliance; image via Marvel Comics)

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