The Defenders will bring one of Marvel Comics’ most iconic duos to life: Luke Cage and Iron Fist. After starring as the leads in their own respective solo series, the two characters will cross paths for the first time in the upcoming Netflix miniseries. At Comic-Con International in San Diego, Mike Colter (Luke Cage) and Finn Jones (Danny Rand) weighed in on their characters’ fan-favorite friendship and revealed that audiences may find their first meeting “surprising.”
“Because it’s so iconic, I don’t think you want to put too much pressure onto it or try to oversell it, you know? So I think we played it very truthfully,” Jones said of Danny Rand’s relationship with Luke Cage. “Lucky, [executive producer] Marco [Ramirez] wrote some incredible scenes between us and really got to the nitty gritty of why these two eventually become best friends. We just kind of played the truth of it and try to keep it as real as possible.”
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However, Jones believes the characters’ first meeting will take some fans by surprise. “I think that’s a little bit surprising, because everyone knows us as being bffs and actually the first time we see each other there’s conflict, and it grounds and roots the characters into reality a little bit better, which I think is really interesting,” he explained.
“One of the things he learns from Luke is how to just actually step down a notch — actually, no, not step down a notch, but how to really understand who he is a little bit better and really take his responsibility a bit more seriously,” he shared. “The fact I have this enormous power because I’m head of this company… I can actually use that in a lot more intelligent ways than just flashing some cash around or going and punching stuff.”
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“I think it’s just one of those things where Luke has the advantage of years of experience,” Colter added. “He’s a little older than Danny, he’s sort of been around, done that. He’s been in prison! He’s got some miles, he’s got some experiences… I’m from the streets, and that’s where we operate.”
“Luke is from the streets! He’s from a community. Danny’s never grown up in a community which is of this world, and so he comes back into this wealth and he’s just like a kid in a candy shop,” Jones pitched in. “He needs to really realize that his actions have repercussions, and you [Luke] help him realize that… You bring me down to the streets! You’re like, ‘Hey, dude, what the fuck are you doing? Get real!’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, wow, yeah. I didn’t think about it like that.’”
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Jones also revealed his hope that the characters will eventually form the Heroes for Hire in Netflix’s Marvel Universe. “I think Heroes for Hire would eventually be a great television show, because you could go deep with that kind of conversation, with having someone like Danny Rand, who is from a kind of white privilege background, and then someone like Luke. Like, think of the conversations and the themes and the stories you could really tackle with a show like that!” he shared, though he quickly added, “But that’s a long way off. That’s speculation!”
Arriving August 18 on Netflix, the eight-episode Defenders miniseries stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, Finn Jones as Danny Rand, Elodie Yung as Elektra Natchios, Sigourney Weaver as Alexandra.