Netflix’s “Iron Fist”: a Symptom of Fatigue

Super heroes have been dominating the movie industry for the last couple of years now and it has not spared the world of television. From shows like Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, Arrow, The Flash, and a few others, there has been an increase in these comic book series that feature a hero from either DC or Marvel. However, network television is not the only one clued in on this phenomenon. Netflix also features its own Marvel shows, such as Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage. The latest entry on Netflix being Iron Fist, which continues to develop the Defenders universe that has already been established by the other three shows.

Despite the success of all the prior super hero shows, however, Iron Fist stands out as the one with the lowest ratings among critics. This got me curious since I am not always on the same side as critical review, so I made sure to check out the show when it came out.

I started the first episode and waited patiently as the characters were introduced. I watched as the story began to present itself. Halfway through, I lost focus and turned it off.

Why did I do that?

I hardly ever lose focus on a show enough to shut it off right in the middle. So, what happened?

Well, I got bored. Actually, I laughed at the first fight scene then got bored.

To be fair to the show, it was the first episode and pilots are not usually the strongest part of a season but I just could not get through it. Every second felt like a chore and the character lacked the depth that the other three Netflix Marvel heroes have in their own pilots. So, that got me thinking about the super hero genre as a whole. Yes, there has been some great entertaining material produced from this genre, but at what point does it become a tedious task to watch?

For me, the main reason why I wanted to watch the show was to see how it expands on the Defenders universe while also wanting to see what the critics and fans had seen. Unfortunately, the negative criticisms were true for the most part.

Now, I will admit that my analysis is not complete since I did not even finish that first episode of Iron Fist. But, the idea of going back and watching it just sounds dreadful at this point. And, with the influx of super hero shows and movies, I at least have the option to pick out something else that I enjoy. However, this does beg the question of how much is too much?

Even though I love super heroes – and I do enjoy seeing them on the big and small silver screens – I think we are hitting a point where these new shows and films become an item to check off instead of something that we actually want to see. I mean, was this show even necessary? Probably not. They could have just stuck him in another character’s show like they did with the Punisher.

So, with all of this in mind, I am willing to admit that the super hero fatigue is real and that it is affecting me when it comes to watching this show. I just hope that it does not spread to other comic book properties but that all depends on how much more these studios are willing to produce.