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‘Iron Fist’ Names Jessica Henwick To Cast — See What Role She Will Play

By Ernie Howell
Published on: 05:27 PST, Apr 2, 2016

Marvel’s Iron Fist has named its second cast member this week, pegging Jessica Henwick to join the Netflix original series according to Entertainment Weekly.

Viewers may recognize Henwick from her role on the hit series Game of Thrones. On the HBO series that starts its sixth season this month, Jessica plays the role of Nymeria Sand, one of the Sand Snakes. In addition to Game of Thrones, Henwick also starred in the 2015 blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Henwick was a part of the controversial cast with her role as X-Wing fighter pilot Jessika Pava.

On Iron Fist, Henwick will play Colleen Wing. The role Jessica signed on to is that of a strong female who is running her own martial arts’ complex when Henwick runs into the Iron Fist. The two become allies in the fight to clean up the streets of Hell’s Kitchen.

Henwick is joining Finn Jones as Game of Thrones actors cast in the Iron Fist. Finn will play Daniel Rand according to Entertainment Weekly, an ultra-rich New Yorker who will ultimately become the titular character in the series. Filling these two important roles will help Marvel with their future plans with both the Iron Fist and the other characters who currently have series in development at Netflix, Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb said.

“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.”

Iron Fist showrunner Scott Buck concurred with Loeb’s comments, adding the elements that Finn Jones and Jessica Henwick bring to their characters helps them succeed in the fourth Marvel series to be developed by Netflix.

“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.”

Although Iron Fist won’t be released until 2017, the show is already dropping teasers via its Twitter account. In addition to retweeting a story about Jessica Henwick joining the cast, the show is already introducing potential new characters to the fold that only comic book fans will be familiar with prior to the show’s airing.

Iron Fist will be the final series developed before merging characters from the previous Netflix series — Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and Daredevil — as the Defenders. Slated for sometime in 2017, The Defenders will showcase the title roles from the four series in a battle to save Hell’s Kitchen.

Daredevil unveiled its second season last month, further developing characters in the Marvel Universe with Elektra (Elodie Yung) and The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) joining the show. Like Jessica Jones, Daredevil delved into a darker, realistic series than previous comic book-based TV shows have, the Inquisitr previously reported.

Jessica Jones is currently producing its second season and will debut later this year before the Iron Fist is released. Jessica Jones is at the forefront of having strong female characters take the lead, something Henwick and her character Colleen Wing could develop if Iron Fist becomes a popular Netflix program.

Luke Cage, one of several new Netflix shows debuting this year, will build off the excitement created by the character audiences met in Jessica Jones. With the show still filming, Jessica Henwick could still appear in Luke Cage, providing a natural transition into Iron Fist and The Defenders series for the Marvel Universe.

What do you think about Jessica Henwick joining Iron Fist as Colleen Wing? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images]

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