IRON FIST TURNS 45 TODAY! Featuring An EXCLUSIVE Interview with Creator Roy Thomas!

On Feb. 26, 1974, 45 years ago, Marvel Comics introduced the world to their premier martial arts superhero. Some would call this his 45th anniversary. Either way, we’re giving his fans a special treat today with an exclusive interview with his co-creator Roy Thomas.

The legendary comics scribe and former Marvel Comics Editor-In-Chief created Danny Rand and his kung-fu fighting alter ego together with master illustrator Gil Kane, one of the comics industry’s most respected artists. The two dared to create a super-powered martial artist who was a product of the kung-fu craze of the seventies, but in the process gave the world a timeless superhero for the ages.

Iron Fist first appeared in the pages of Marvel Premiere #15 which had a publication date of May 1974. Back then, they used to print cover dates months in advance to indicate when the comic should be pulled from the racks. To find out when his actual “birthdate” was, I had to do some digging and through an ad that was only printed in the pages of The Incredible Hulk #175, I discovered that Marvel Premiere #15 was released on February 26, 1974.

The idea for Iron Fist began when Thomas watched the movie The Five Fingers of Death and he was fascinated by the “Ceremony of the Iron Fist” that was performed for the movie’s protagonist.

And so started the gestational process that led to the creation of Marvel’s Living Weapon.

Thomas thought of adopting the name “Iron Fist” as it sounded like a good name for a Marvel superhero regardless of its similarities to “Iron Man.” After all, he thought, Marvel had characters such as Black Panther and Black Widow, Thing and Man-Thing, and so on and so forth. Another “Iron” character shouldn’t be a problem.

With the approval from Stan Lee to proceed with the creation of the character, Roy tapped his good buddy Gil to help flesh out Iron Fist’s origin story and his costume. According to Thomas, Kane was the right artist for the job because of his interest in gymnastics and the martial arts. As such, their creation didn’t need to be a muscular powerhouse but instead had to be someone lithe yet powerful.

Kane thought of an existing character from 1939 created by Bill Everett, the Amazing Man, whose story made perfect sense for the character they were creating and they successfully adapted it to form the foundation for Iron Fist’s own origin. In Marvel Premiere #15’s first ever “Iron Fistfuls,” the aptly titled letters page, Thomas acknowledged Everett’s influence in the creation of Iron Fist and dedicated the issue to him in the final panel.

The costume was basically Kane’s design. He knew exactly what the appropriate costume ought to be for their new masked adventurer. However, it was Thomas’ idea to include a symbol on our hero’s chest, as inspired by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, that eventually became a dragon.

I had the privilege of interviewing “Rascally” Roy Thomas to know more about his creation and his vision for the character. With so much of Iron Fist’s beginnings already told by Thomas from the Marvel Masterworks Iron Fist Vol. 1 Introduction and from a recent interview by Inverse’s Caitlin Busch, I decided to ask questions that may not have been asked before of the esteemed creator about our favorite superhero martial artist. The interview was basically a set of questions that I humbly asked Thomas to answer via email so I didn’t get to follow-up on his answers nor was I able to give him more input on my queries. However, I included a few of my insights on his answers to give readers a better idea of his thoughts based on previous interviews and columns.

How did you and Gil Kane come up with Iron Fist’s powers? Was that something you already had in mind and was fleshed out with Gil or did the two of you discuss what his power was going to be and how it could be used?

He was called “Iron Fist,” so that kind of power was a natural. Otherwise, he was a super-kung-fu type of guy, which was precisely what I’d wanted to do after seeing a kung fu movie the night before.

As with the aforementioned “Ceremony of the Iron Fist” from which Thomas derived the name of the character, he also stated in the Marvel Masterworks Introduction that the ritual allowed the hero to gain, “the ability to wipe out his enemies with his bare hands.” That appears to be the groundwork from which the idea for Iron Fist’s powers was formed then later refined by Thomas.

As the co-creators of Iron Fist, was there a direction you and Gil Kane would have wanted his adventures to head off to rather than the one that was written for him by the writers that followed you?

Not that I recall. I related to the new writer what Gil and I had intended for the second story, and he and the artist followed that, but afterward, they were pretty much on their own, as long as they stayed faithful to the basic framework of the character and origin.

The new writer who took over was another pillar in comics history—Len Wein. He and Thomas together with artist John Romita Sr. co-created Wolverine who would debut just a few months after Iron Fist did. Wein left after one issue for reasons unknown. Larry Hama inherited the art chores from Kane who would stay on as cover artist for the series all the way to Marvel Premiere #25 (the last Iron Fist issue) before the character was given his own solo title.

How did you think fans would respond to Danny Rand’s origin story where he was essentially on a vengeance quest? Was he supposed to be an anti-hero from the beginning (similar to the Punisher) or were you planning to redeem him in the same manner that Doug Moench did when Danny decided not to kill his father’s murderer?

I never bothered to think ahead to the eventual ending of the vengeance quest.  If I had stuck around as writer, I’d have thought about that at the appropriate time. I didn’t waste a lot of time thinking way ahead on series.

In other words, the original intent for Iron Fist was for him to be a hero with similar values to Spider-Man, Captain America and other superheroes who struggle with life and death decisions all the time. At the core of his being, he will always choose to do the right thing even when he is faced with a difficult decision. He may not be perfect, but he is a hero.

Are you familiar with how Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction expanded the Iron Fist mythology in the Immortal Iron Fist series and if so, what do you think of their contribution to your vision for the character?

I haven’t followed it. I’m sure they did a good job in their own way.

Yes, they did, sir. Thomas created a number of characters for both Marvel and DC Comics and I am sure that it is difficult for him to keep abreast with every single one of them. Still, I was hoping that he got to read how the duo of Brubaker and Fraction were able to adapt his creation to a new audience yet kept the character faithful to his original vision.

This next question was just me wanting to pick Thomas’ brain as to how he projected his character to be whether he was destined to be a loner or he could be a good team player.

Among the superhero teams of the 70s and 80s, which team would you have envisioned Iron Fist to have joined back then—the Avengers, Defenders (the original team), Champions or perhaps a new team altogether? Or maybe you prefer him to go solo or just stay with his partnership with Power Man?

Probably the Defenders, a non-team, would’ve made the most sense… and I was happy to see him solo, or later teamed with Power Man. Not everybody has to be in a group.

It’s interesting that he chose the Defenders. These aren’t the Defenders of the Netflix TV series but instead were a bunch of superheroes who were composed of former Avengers and some who hadn’t been part of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes before. The roster for the Defenders at the time of Iron Fist’s creation included Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor, Valkyrie, and Nighthawk. Power Man (or Luke Cage to new readers) was a guest star for a few issues so he and Iron Fist could have been besties, too, had they become Defenders at the same time. Later, he would go on to form the Heroes for Hire team, join the New Avengers, and become a member of two versions of the Defenders as well.

Then again, his martial arts prowess would be best portrayed in the comics when he was on solo adventures and/or when he was working with Power Man and the Daughters of the Dragon, Misty Knight, and Colleen Wing.

Did you ever envision Iron Fist to last 45 years or did you think that he would disappear into limbo along with the 70s kung-fu craze?

I never thought of Iron Fist as just a hero for the “kung-fu craze.” Yes, he was born of that, but there was no reason he had to stay tied to it. He was a Marvel hero, not just a kung-fu hero.

It is amazing to see how the Living Weapon has endured and evolved to become one of the most uniquely created characters in the Marvel Universe. Though he hasn’t become a household name just yet, he has definitely surpassed any expectations anyone has had of him as a top-notch Marvel superhero.

If you could pick a current writer, artist, and inker to work on a new Iron Fist series, who would they be?

Sorry, I don’t have any favorites.

Since Thomas didn’t give us any particular creative team that he’d like to see handle his creation, I have a few ideas of my own. Aside from possibly bringing back Brubaker and Fraction with David Aja as the artist and inker with colorist Matt Hollingsworth, I’d love to see Grant Morrison as the writer, David Finch as the artist, and Danny Miki as his inker. That would be one heck of a new ongoing Iron Fist series and destined to be one of the best creative teams to handle the character.

Lastly, if you could have one wish for Iron Fist’s birthday, what would it be?

For him to return to TV or movies in a big way since Marvel’s checks always clear and I’m kind of proud of having come up with the basic notion of Iron Fist.

That’s one way for Iron Fist to last another 45 years! Yes, Roy, you should be proud of the superhero you created (with Marvel’s checks in hand) and it would only be appropriate that Marvel carefully plans on bringing him back to live action. Now that Marvel Studios has greenlit a Master of Kung Fu movie to introduce fellow martial artist Shang-Chi, it’s time for Iron Fist to make the leap onto the big screen as well.

I sincerely hope that your co-creator gets his wish to come true for you, Iron Fist. That would be the best 45th birthday gift you’ll ever receive!*

*Oh, and a new monthly title wouldn’t hurt, either. Right, Marvel?