Marvel completely dominated Comic Con Saturday night with a huge 'Iron Fist' panel full of surprises
This is how you do Comic Con.
Marvel absolutely dominated New York Comic Con Saturday night with its "Iron Fist" panel Saturday night.
The Netflix show features Finn Jones as Danny Rand, an orphan trained in martial arts who returns home to fight for his family's legacy. He's also the fourth and final character that will make up "The Defenders," an upcoming series which will include all of Netflix's Marvel superheroes including Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and Luke Cage.
Even before the panel began, fans were waiting in anticipation for the event all day. NYCC Lines tweeted out the entire panel was filled before Comic Con even opened Saturday morning.
And the long lines of fans proved it.
You know your panel better be rocking when fans are waiting that long.
Marvel more than delivered.
Rather than keep fans in total silence of upcoming projects, Marvel unleashed a number of surprises over the course of an hour. From clips to announcements of future shows, they had the audience chanting, "Holy s--t," over and over again.
For those lucky enough to secure a seat inside, the surprises came early. As head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb welcomed fans to the event, he was interrupted by Erik LaRay Harvey yelling "Can you dig it?" from off stage. Harvey portrays Diamondback in "Luke Cage" and was kept from press before the show's release, so this was a way to recognize him.
Then it was time to welcome the "Iron Fist" cast to the stage.
"Iron Fist"
One big surprise with the cast was the presence of Rosario Dawson. Dawson, who plays Claire Temple, has been in every Defenders show to date, and she is continuing her streak in Marvel's upcoming series "Iron Fist."
In addition to dropping the first official trailer Saturday night, Marvel shocked and thrilled fans with not one, or two, but five scenes from the debut season. Among the scenes the crowd got to watch were ones of Danny's return to NYC and an incredible Marvel hallway fight scene.
One particular scene showing Colleen Wing's (Jessica Henwick) fighting skills astonished fans and the cheers were deafening. The badass fighter is one of Iron Fist's allies.
The cast then left the stage, leaving Loeb on stage to bring in the next special guests.
"Punisher"
Jon Bernthal, known as Frank Castle aka the Punisher from "Daredevil," is going to be at his own panel on Sunday, but he emerged to a screaming crowd Saturday. His secret appearance led to even more surprises.
Bernthal announced that they had recently begun production on the "Punisher" for Netflix and then brought Deborah Ann Woll, Karen Page in "Daredevil," to the stage to announce her involvement with the project.
Karen Page is the heart of "Daredevil," and she formed a close relationship to Castle during the second season. The reunion of these two characters is wonderful news for the Marvel Universe.
"The Defenders"
The biggest shock of the night was the complete team of Defenders joining together onstage for the first time.
Jones returned to the stage to welcome Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil) from "Daredevil," Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones) from "Jessica Jones," and Mike Colter (Luke Cage) from "Luke Cage."
Marvel wasn't done yet, though. After the team united onstage, fans were told that the Defenders would face a female villain, one played by Oscar-nominated actress Sigourney Weaver. She emerged to chants of "Holy s--t" from excited fans.
Here's the scene of Weaver emerging out on stage:
With casting news, guest appearances, and a ton of bonus footage, Marvel crushed it at Comic Con, as they do every year on the Javits' stage. While "The Walking Dead" panel started half an hour late over at Madison Square Garden and gave fans one new clip from the show, the Javits Center was the place to be Saturday night.