Following the breakout success of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, Netflix will add a fresh face to its Marvel lineup with Iron Fist. Unlike its predecessors, however, the show's early reviews have been largely abysmal. But hey, you can still look forward to the Iron Fist soundtrack, right? And who knows, maybe you'll still like it. As star Finn Jones told Metro, the show was built for fans, not critics.
The series follows Danny Rand (Jones), a 20-something billionaire-turned-kung-fu-renegade who returns to his New York empire after 15 years in K’un-Lun, where he was shaped into a superhuman vigilante through mystic martial arts. Much like his Marvel peers, he's a bit of an outsider with a traumatic backstory: both of his parents were killed in a suspicious plane crash, leaving him orphaned until a group of monks took him in. When Iron Fist picks up, he's struggling to find himself outside of the monastery where he was raised, balancing his crime-fighting alter ego with the boardroom obligations required by his family's massive corporation.
All of that would seem to suggest a high-intensity score that teeters between gritty, hard-charging action songs and softer, heart-tugging ballads. An official soundtrack has yet to make the rounds, but there are still a few good guesses to be made about what can be expected.
First, Screen Crush reports that Emmy-winning composer Trevor Morris scored Season 1, so you know it's in good hands. He's worked on shows like The Tudors, The Pillars of the Earth, The Borgias, Vikings, Olympus Has Fallen, and London Has Fallen, all of which include grandiose, emotional music in line with Iron Fist's tone. Wu-Tang Clan's RZA also directed an episode, so it's more than possible Morris pulled from his discography, or (fingers crossed) he contributed something original.
Second, listeners already got a small taste of what Morris has in store via the Iron Fist trailer that dropped back in October. It features Apashe's "I'm a Dragon," a tune that melds Far Eastern instrumentals with bass-blasted EDM. It's an odd mix, but one that fits Iron Fist to a T, calling back to Danny's upbringing while hyping up the many fight scenes that will undoubtedly litter his return to the city.
IGN also noted A Tribe Called Quest's 1993 entry, "Award Tour" could be heard during an opening sequence during a screening at New York Comic Con. It's a mellower cut, but one that speaks to Danny's immersion in a newly urban setting: A Tribe Called Quest are from Queens, and their music has become synonymous with early '90s New York hip-hop.
Alas, the breadcrumbs end there, but it should be noted that there are plenty of songs to pick from should Morris have taken a more literal route. Motörhead's fifth album was called Iron Fist, plus Coheed and Cambria, Goldfinger, and Austrian Death Machine are among the bands with songs of the same name — though they're admittedly all pretty disparate in sound.
Netflix released the Luke Cage soundtrack roughly a week after the show's debut, so it shouldn't be too long of a wait for the official rundown. In the meantime, you'll have to tune in when Iron Fist premieres March 17 for the full sonic experience.
