Wait a minute, that’s not Iron Fist? But it is!? What’s going on with the Marvel Rivals version of The Living Weapon that is Iron Fist?
If you’ve been playing Marvel Rivals and been cursing the name of Iron Fist, just be sure you’re mad at the correct person. That’s not Danny Rand, the Iron Fist casual comic book and Marvel fans know. The Iron Fist in Marvel Rivals is Lin Lie, a very different person.
Above: Iron Fist from Marvel: Crisis Protocol – aka Danny Rand, Iron Fist
Iron Fist is actually more akin to a title that a person earns by way of the Dragon Shou-Lao. There’s a whole mystical city of K’un Lun and typically a trial by combat. It’s a thing. Danny Rand earned the right to be the Iron Fist and was in Marvel Comics as the character for a long time. But he’s not the only person to have that title. In fact, he comes from a long, LONG line of Iron Fist warriors.
Personally, it you want to read a relatively recent story that does a great job of getting you caught up on Danny Rand without having to know everything about the character, I suggest the Immortal Iron Fist & The Immortal Weapons Omnibus. You can get a digital copy from Marvel or hit up your local comic book shop. They can probably order you a copy if they don’t have it and give you some more reading suggestions on the character.
Plus Ben painted up this SWEET looking Iron Fist for Marvel: Crisis Protocol and I just wanted to show it off again.
But Wait, If That’s Iron Fist Who’s The Rivals Guy?
Right off the bat you can see from the character design that this Iron Fist is different. Aside from the costume, his hair is black. If you’re not even a casual Iron Fist comic fan you probably didn’t even notice. But yeah — that’s not Danny Rand.
A quick pop over to the lore tab will give you a quick explainer on this Iron Fist:
“Oh so they just made up this version for Marvel Rivals, got it.” Actually, no. He’s also from the comics. But you’d be forgiven if you missed the update if you’re not current on Danny Rand’s Iron Fist story.
The story arc you might want to read-up on next is Iron Fist: The Shattered Sword. The Trade Paperback came out in November of 2022 and collects Iron Fist (2022) #1-5. This explains a bit more about Lin Lie and what’s going on with Danny Rand.
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Now, I won’t go into all the spoilers if you want to read up on this. And if you could avoid writing spoilers in the comments that would be appreciated. However, there is a changing of the guard here. But also, Lin Lie isn’t just some rando character either. He used to go by the moniker Sword Master. He wielded the mystical Sword of Fu Xi. But note the past tense there. The sword was destroyed in a pretty epic battle and shards of the blade ended up inside Lin Lie’s hands…
That same battle saw Lin Lie get his butt kicked and tossed into a ravine. He didn’t die (sorta) and ended up on the shores of K’un-Lun. That’s where, you guessed it, he was saved by Shou-Lao and granted the powers of the Iron Fist.
So while he’s not exactly a new character, he’s certainly got a lot of “new to me” character vibes. Just remember who’s name you should yell next time Iron Fist dives into your back line and eats your supports for lunch. It’s Lin Lie, not Danny Rand.
No wonder he’s OP. Bro’s got the powers of Iron Fist AND Mystic Sword powers, too!
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Writer, Editor, Texas Native, and now Tex-Pat, Adam covers all things Tabletop Gaming. Which includes Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, D&D, Board Games and everything else that involves dice, boards, cards and a table.
A hobbyist, player, and collector of miniatures and games, Adam’s current obsession are his Death and Chaos Armies for Age of Sigmar, his Blood Angels and Tyranids for 40k, an expanding collection of Marvel: Crisis Protocol minis, and his ever growing Arkham Horror: The Card Game Collection.
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