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Here's what critics are saying about 'Marvel's Iron Fist' as Marvel, Netflix plot a TV universe

Early reviews for 'Iron Fist' 鈥� the latest TV series to come from the Marvel-Netflix team-up that has produced series including 'Jessica Jones' and 'Luke Cage' 鈥� are grim.

Netflix TV adaptations of Marvel superhero stories such as 鈥淒aredevil,鈥� 鈥淛essica Jones,鈥� and 鈥淟uke Cage鈥� have all been fairly well received. But the streaming service and the hugely successful movie studio may struggle with the upcoming TV series 鈥淚ron Fist,鈥� which is being launched even as Netflix and Marvel are busy plotting 鈥淭he Defenders,鈥� a miniseries bringing together all four title characters.

鈥淚ron Fist鈥� will be made available on Netflix on March 17 and stars Finn Jones of 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥� as Danny Rand, the son of a rich businessman who is skilled in martial arts and has been thought to be dead for 15 years before he comes back to New York.

The story takes place in the Marvel universe and is the latest team-up between Netflix and Marvel after Netflix released TV shows including 2015鈥檚 鈥淒aredevil鈥� and 鈥淛essica Jones鈥� and 2016鈥檚 鈥淟uke Cage.鈥�

In early reviews, though, the latest Marvel project on Netflix is drawing poor notices. wrote of "Iron Fist," 鈥淣ot one element of this plodding piece works. The action scenes lack spark, snap, and originality. None of the flat, by-the-numbers characters makes any lasting impression. And as origin stories go, the tale of Danny Rand (Finn Jones), at least as rendered by this creative team, is about as exciting as a slice of Velveeta cheese left out in the sun too long.鈥澛�

Other critics seem to agree, with writing that 鈥淢arvel and Netflix have their first big misstep.鈥澛�

鈥溾�業ron Fist鈥� feels like a step backward on every level, a major disappointment鈥�.,鈥� Mr. Fienberg writes.聽

And called it 鈥渓aughably bad.鈥�

Multiple writers felt that the program had problems with its depiction of Asian culture, with Ms. Ryan writing, 鈥淓ven if you can put aside issues of cultural appropriation 鈥� and the ham-fisted 鈥業ron Fist鈥� doesn鈥檛 make that easy, given that it feeds its yoga-bro lead character a series of inert lines about Shaolin wisdom and Buddhist teachings 鈥� this superhero drama just feels inessential.鈥澛�

Ms. Polo further noted that the problems 鈥淚ron Fist" has with its portrayal of Asian cultures and Asian-Americans "are embedded throughout every episode," but that's not the series' only problem. "[I]ts problems with delivering exposition, crafting consistent characters, and even basic dialogue writing run right alongside.鈥澛�

With these multiple challenges appearing to dog 鈥淚ron Fist,鈥� what does this mean for the upcoming, long-heralded 鈥淒efenders鈥� miniseries featuring all of Netflix鈥檚 Marvel characters?聽

Fienberg wrote that the lack of craft that went into 鈥淚ron Fist鈥� is bad for 鈥淒efenders,鈥� though it seems he will likely still watch.聽

鈥淲ith a big four-hero mashup allegedly unfolding out of 鈥業ron Fist,鈥� this misstep couldn't have come at a worse time for Marvel and Netflix,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淚t's a good thing I really like Daredevil, Jessica, and Luke.鈥�

Meanwhile, however, Polo suggests 鈥淚ron Fist鈥� may get by on the strength of its links to other projects.聽

鈥溾�橧ron Fist鈥� is not the strongest of its siblings, but team dynamics being what they are, it鈥檒l no doubt benefit from the association,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淭here will be plenty of folks out there who watch the show to keep up with the overall plot of the Marvel Netflix shows, and to see how 鈥業ron Fist鈥� presumably sets up for 鈥楾he Defenders鈥� later this year. Unfortunately, I can鈥檛 say at the moment that there are other reasons to binge.鈥�