The second season of Marvel's Iron Fist is absolutely jam-packed with Easter eggs. Some of them are subtle - one is a reference to an obscure X-Men comic - but others are far more important, and look set to have a major impact on the next season of the Marvel Netflix show.
Iron Fist season 2 is a marked improvement on the first season, and one reason is that new showrunner Raven Metzner has dived deep into the character's comic book lore. He's taken particular inspiration from the popular Brubaker and Fraction run, and a lot of the key Easter eggs point to that run. Meanwhile, as though reassuring fans that he's familiar with the full history of the Immortal Iron Fist, every episode title in season 2 is lifted straight from the comics. In fact, the title of episode 6 - "The Dragon Dies at Dawn" - is taken from 1976's Iron Fist #9, one of only two comics to feature the Golden Tiger gang.
Related: What To Expect In Iron Fist Season 3
As a result, there's a lot of hidden goodness in Iron Fist season 2 that you may have missed on your first watch. Here's a guide to every awesome Easter egg in Marvel's latest Netflix treat. Did you spot them all?
- This Page: Iron Fist Comic Easter Eggs
- Page 2: Marvel Universe Easter Eggs
- Page 3: Marvel Future Easter Eggs
The Golden Tigers
One of the key players in the War of the Triads, the Golden Tigers are lifted straight from the comics - although, as you can see, they've been liberally redesigned. Just as in Iron Fist season 2, the comic book version was particularly known for protection rackets, and attempted to exploit a power vacuum in New York in order to become New York's dominant crime power. This is a pretty deep cut into Marvel lore, given the Golden Tigers only appeared in two issues of Iron Fist back in 1976. Kwai Chang, leader of the Golden Tigers in Iron Fist, was indeed one of their members.
The Silver Lotus Restaurant and the Coffee-A-Go-Go
One of the key locations in Iron Fist season 2 is the Silver Lotus, a restaurant where Danny and Colleen go out for a date night - but find their activities rudely interrupted. The restaurant owner ultimately falls foul of Davos when he tries not to take a side in the madman's war against crime. This is another deep cut into Marvel lore; the Silver Lotus appears in 2010's Uncanny X-Men: First Class #4. That particular comic was set in the early days of the X-Men's "Second Genesis" team, and it saw Storm and Jean Grey meet up with Misty Knight and Colleen Wing for a girl's night out. Their evening was even more eventful than Danny and Colleen's in Iron Fist; they were poisoned by Nightshade, and forced to attack the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
Related: Why The Avengers and The Defenders Won't Get a Crossover
Another notable location is the Coffee-A-Go-Go, a coffee shop in Harlem where Danny crossed paths with Mary Walker. Like the Silver Lotus, this is a location traditionally associated with the X-Men, with the original five often heading there for some R&R; Beast quite enjoyed taking his girlfriend Zelma on dates there. Its most notable patron was a self-styled poet named Bernard, who enjoyed giving readings of his surreal and incomprehensible poetry. The Coffee-A-Go-Go of the comics was situated in Greenwich Village, so this particular Easter egg was rather unexpected.
Typhoid Mary
Alice Eve's Typhoid Mary is one of the most fascinating characters in Iron Fist season 2. There are a number of subtle callbacks to Mary's comic book design, where she's usually portrayed with make-up across half her face. The most notable of these visual cues is in the second episode, with Mary carefully wiping half of a steamed-up bathroom mirror down.
The Crane Sisters
Iron Fist season 2 introduced three dangerous tattoo artists, the Crane Sisters. Willing to do anything for a price, the Crane Sisters followed Davos's instructions in combining the tattoo of an old Iron Fist with Danny's blood; they then used this ink to etch Davos's own serpent tattoo (the closest we'll come to his comic book identity, the Steel Serpent). The Crane Sisters were also phenomenally capable hand-to-hand fighters, putting up a serious fight against Colleen and Misty when Danny's friends tracked them down. Amusingly enough, that particular scene - featuring five women fighting it out - was shot on International Women's Day.
Related: Iron Fist: K'un-Lun's Monastery & Danny's Powers Explained
The Crane Sisters are clearly inspired by a group from the comics known as the Crane Daughters. They're the children of the Crane Mother, who rules the Lost City of K'un-Zi. The Crane Mother has given birth to thousands of these Crane Daughters over the centuries, but only bears a son once every 300 years. Burning with hatred against the Order of the Iron Fist, the Crane Mother agreed to give the Crane Mothers to Davos as part of his revenge against Danny Rand; a significant number of Crane Daughters sacrificed their Chi in order to boost Davos's power.
Page 2: Marvel Universe Easter Eggs in Iron Fist Season 2
Sam Chung aka Blindshot
Colleen's boss at the Community Association is a character named Sam Chung, played by James Chen. In the comics, Chung is better known as the superhero Blindspot, Daredevil's protege. The Marvel Netflix version is very different to the character created by Charles Soule, though, so we shouldn't expect him to suit up anytime soon.
The Erskine Collection
Davos's ritual required very specific objects, including an ancient bowl that's linked to the lost city of Shambhala. Crucially, we're told that it was part of the Erskine collection, gathered by one Ernst Erskine. That's a fairly important name in Iron Fist lore; Erskine was an adventurer in his own right who was associated with a previous Iron Fist, Orson Randall, and became his biographer.
Code 616
Iron Fist season 2, episode 5 features what is perhaps the most amusing reference of them all, with Misty revealing that a 616 police radio call denotes a "possible suspect with abilities." Until 2015's Secret Wars event, "616" was the comic book designation for the reality most of Marvel's comics take place in. This isn't the first time Marvel Television has referenced 616; it was the call-sign for Coulson's team in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1.
Sokovia
Typhoid Mary's MCU backstory is very different to her comic book origin. In Iron Fist season 2, Mary Walker was a special ops soldier whose squad was dispatched to the nation of Sokovia. They were captured while on patrol, and brutally tortured; Mary watched the rest of her squad killed before her eyes. This seems to have been the trigger for Mary's Dissociative Identity Disorder, with her mind fracturing over the 22 months she was held prisoner. In a shocking twist, when Mary was found by the Army, she was already free from her cell and surrounded by the "bloody mess" of her captors. It's a clear reference to the "Bloody Mary" persona, teased but not seen in Iron Fist season 2.
The fictional Eastern European nation of Sokovia was introduced to the MCU back in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It's important to note that the timeline doesn't match up if Mary Walker was in Sokovia after those events, so presumably this was part of an earlier international intervention in the fractured nation. Sokovia was a broken country long before Ultron's arrival, locked in a never-ending cycle of rebellions and counter-rebellions. According to official tie-in comics, back in 2012 S.H.I.E.L.D. supported a UN peacekeeping operation in Sokovia; that was when Hydra took the opportunity to establish their own base there. It's likely Mary's ill-fated unit was also involved in that peacekeeping attempt.
Related: A Complete History Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay
Iron Fist season 2 dives into the history and mythology of the Iron Fist, and one of the most important references is to the Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay. Colleen believes this was simply a story made up by her mother, but Danny knows it's far more; he remembers it from his Iron Fist training and knows that the Pirate Queen - Wu Ao-Shi - was the first female Iron Fist. This is a brilliant addition to the Iron Fist's mythology, and is lifted straight from the comics. The character was created by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction, and her story was told in Immortal Iron Fist #7: Wu Ao-Shi was caught when attempting to steal food in order to stay alive and was beaten badly by her captor; however, Lei Kung the Thunderer saw her defiance, and recognized the potential within her. He took Wu Ao-Shi into his care, training her to become the Iron Fist. Unfortunately for Lei Kung's plans, Wu Ao-Shi met a fisherman and fell in love. She chose love over duty and left K'un-Lun.
When the Wokou pirates captured Pinghai Bay, Wu Ao-Shi was drawn into matters and soon proved her power as the Iron Fist. She charged arrows with her Chi, setting their boats ablaze, and then leaped from ship to ship, destroying one after another. In the aftermath of the battle, Wu Ao-Shi became ruler of Pinghai Bay, its famed Pirate Queen.
Colleen and Danny's recounting of the legend strongly suggests that events played out in the MCU just as they did in Immortal Iron Fist #7. Interestingly, although the idea that Colleen is descended from Wu Ao-Shi is an original concept, the final panels of Immortal Iron Fist #7 did indeed suggest that Wu and her fisherman had a number of children.
Page 3: Marvel Future Easter Eggs in Iron Fist Season 2
KnightWing
You can be pardoned for thinking that Misty's "Knight... Wing" joke is a pun about DC Comics' Dick Grayson. That's not the case; in the comics, the Daughters of the Dragon worked under the cover of the NightWing Restoration Business.
Related: Daughters of the Dragon Should Be Marvel's Next Netflix Show
Colleen Wing's Charged Blade
Marvel's Netflix shows are increasingly exploring ideas we've never seen in the comics before. A classic case in point is the idea of Colleen Wing as the bearer of the Iron Fist. For all that's the case, though, the dramatic scene in which Colleen charges her sword with Chi is actually something that has happened in the comics - after a fashion. There have been a handful of occasions when Danny has borrowed Colleen's blade and charged it for effect; the most notable being Immortal Iron Fist #6, where he used the sword to threaten a captive Hydra agent.
Orson Randall
The "months later" scene name-drops an important character; Orson Randall, Danny's predecessor as Iron Fist in the comics. Randall was created by Ed Brubaker, and his favorite trick was to use his Chi through two guns. Randall played a major role in Brubaker's run, explaining the secret history of the Iron Fist to Danny and introducing him to the idea of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven. Given Danny has headed to Asia on a quest to uncover the truth behind the Iron Fist's mythology, it's likely he'll be just as important in Iron Fist season 3.
More: Iron Fist Season 2 Ending: What It Means For Marvel Netflix's Future
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