“Iron Fist” Season 2 is here, arriving in what is now a fully formed shared TV universe with Marvel’s other Netflix shows. So let’s take a look at all the ways “Iron Fist” calls back to “Daredevil,” “Luke Cage,” “Jessica Jones” and “The Defenders.” Some spoilers here, obviously.
Season 2 calls back to the literally earth-shattering events of “The Defenders” a few times. Most notably to the biggest development in the Marvel Netflix TVverse so far: the apparent death of Daredevil when the Midland Circle building collapsed on him and Elektra.
Misty Knight (Simone Missick), one of the main characters from “Luke Cage,” also joined the main cast of “Iron Fist in season 2 — paying back appearances by Danny Rand (Finn Jones) and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) in season 2 of “Luke Cage.”
Misty also refers back to the battle at Midland Circle in “Defenders,” which was where she lost her arm. But Colleen saved her life then, and in “Luke Cage” Danny paid to give Misty her trademark robot arm — Misty and Colleen discuss both of those things during a heartfelt moment of bonding.
While Misty is operating in Chinatown, she consults with a detective from the local precinct, and he commiserates with her on how they both keep having to deal with these superpowered people — the people with glowing fists down there and the super-strong and bulletproof Luke Cage back on Misty’s turf in Harlem.
“Iron Fist” was the only Marvel Netflix show that the arms dealer Turk Barrett (Rob Morgan) hadn’t shown up in, but that changed near the end of season 2 when he sells guns to Ward Meachum (Tom Pelphrey) and Mary Walker (Alice Eve).
Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss) is one of the main characters in “Jessica Jones,” and she appeared in season 1 of “Iron Fist” as Danny Rand’s legal counsel.
Madame Gao (Wai Ching Ho) is one of the behind-the-scenes villains of “Daredevil” as leader of the Hand — which constantly does battle with the Devil himself. The Hand is also a major player in season 1 of “Iron Fist,” with Gao herself pulling the strings behind some of Rand Enterprises’ illicit ventures.
Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) is the main thread between all the Marvel Netflix shows, appearing in a substantial role in nearly all of them, including season 1 of “Iron Fist.”
Back in season 1, the Hand was using Rand resources to produce some awesome new kind of heroin, and one of the corporate heroin reps mentions that they’re the Dogs of Hell is distributing. You’ll probably remember that biker gang from “Daredevil” Season 2, when the Punisher slaughtered a whole bunch of them.
When Danny (Finn Jones) first climbed up to Howard Meachum’s (David Wenham) secret lair back in season 1, Ward almost killed him by shoving him off a ledge. Later, Ward would berate Danny for climbing around “like godd— Daredevil.”
The New York Bulletin has played a major part in both seasons of “Daredevil,” and it also figured into “Iron Fist” in a small but important way. The first instance came at Danny’s press conference declaring his return back in season 1 — a reporter named Jennifer Many from the Bulletin asked the first question.
Later in season 1, when everybody’s mad at Danny for accidentally admitting fault in a corporate lawsuit, he leaks info to Karen Page at the Bulletin as leverage. Karen, of course, is one of the main characters in “Daredevil.” She quit Matt Murdock’s law firm to work as a journalist in Season 2.
During Colleen’s second cage fight in the middle of season 1, she fought a man named Jimmy Pierce, played by stuntman Jay Hieron. Hieron also appeared in “Jessica Jones” as one of the Kilgrave’s thugs. His “Jessica Jones” character was unnamed, but it’s not hard to imagine that Killgrave’s muscle, freed from his influence, would end up in cage fights.
In season 1 when Claire and Colleen decide to take the injured Radovan (Olek Krupa) to a hospital, they go to the one where Claire works, Metro-General. That hospital has previously been the scene of important parts of “Daredevil” and “Jessica Jones.”
As Claire and Colleen run around the hospital trying to find the kidnapped Radovan, Claire mutters “Sweet Christmas,” an expletive she definitely got from hanging around with Luke Cage so much.
Gao mentions “the devil of Hell’s Kitchen” and “the man with unbreakable skin,” as she sanctimoniously preaches at Danny in episode 7 of season 1.
In season 1, Claire is seen reading a letter marked “uncensored inmate mail” — which would be from Luke Cage, who was locked up at the end of his show’s first season.
Back in season 1, Joy (Jessica Stroup) hired a private investigator to blackmail the Rand board. “She was worth every penny when she was sober,” Joy said, a pretty obvious reference to Jessica Jones and her love of hard liquor.
BONUS: In season 1, Rand’s corporate counsel tells Joy and Ward that the video of Danny admitting fault in the previously mentioned suit has “more YouTube views than that incredible green guy.” He’s talking, of course, about the Incredible Hulk from the movies — one of only two mentions in “Iron Fist” of the films that these shows share a universe with.
BONUS: The other reference to the Marvel movies comes in the form of Mary Walker’s backstory. Her personality split came when she was being held captive by a mysterious group in Sokovia for nearly two years. Sokovia, as you may recall, was the final country where the climactic battle of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” took place, and has also featured in ABC’s “Agents of SHIELD.”
