It was reported only a few weeks ago that Finn Jones would be playing Danny Rand, a.k.a. Iron Fist to star in a solo series and round out The Defenders team for Marvel and Netflix. After weathering a bit of social outcry and backlash for casting the White British Jones to play the White American Rand (a character who, arguably, appropriated Asian culture and history), Marvel and Netflix have confirmed Jones' casting for Iron Fist.

As Marvel announced today, "Jones will play Daniel Rand, who returns to New York City after being missing for years. He fights against the criminal element corrupting New York City with his incredible kung-fu mastery and ability to summon the awesome power of the fiery Iron Fist." One wonders if the series will travel back to Rand's past, similar to how Daredevil and Jessica Jones have done, to explore his relatively more mystical experiences that led him to become a superhero.

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Image via Marvel

Executive Producer and showrunner Scott Buck had the following to say about Jones and Iron Fist:

“Danny Rand is a very complicated character. He’s a billionaire New York Buddhist monk martial arts superhero who’s still trying to figure out what exactly that all means. Finn is able to play all these levels in such an honest, revelatory way that as soon as I saw him I knew he was our Danny.”

In other words, Iron Fist is sort of Marvel's version of DC's Batman or Green Arrow. Hopefully that piques your interest or gives you an additional reason to check out Iron Fist when it debuts on Netflix. Executive Producer/Head of Marvel TV Jeph Loeb followed up on Buck's comments on Jones:

“Finn wonderfully blends confidence with vulnerability, making him the perfect choice as he struggles to find his place in the world. Now that we’ve found our Danny Rand, we’ve completed our principal cast for the upcoming Defenders on Netflix and we are thrilled to continue to show audiences unexplored corners of the Marvel Universe.”

If you want to get your own look at Jones, you can do so in HBO's Game of Thrones, where he plays Loras Tyrell. He'll return in that role on April 24th when Game of Thrones kicks off its sixth season.

Additionally, here's a look at Marvel's Iron Fist teaser:

[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/Marvel/status/710472792366514176[/EMBED_TWITTER]

Now this isn't all that interesting at first blush, but those of you who know the comics of "Iron Fist" will recognize that last name. It looks like this letter is addressed to Joy (or possibly Jay, but probably Joy) Meachum, who is the daughter of Harold Meachum. He was the business partner of Danny Rand's father Wendall, and plays a pivotal role in Iron Fist's origin story. It's a nice nod this far out from the show's debut and hints that it will be hewing close to the comics.

For more on Netflix's current and upcoming Marvel series, take a look at some of our recent news below:

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