When it comes to the sheer strength of met the hero through his Netflix series never got to see his true potential. In comics, Danny Rand is an epic character who stands a chance against even overpowered foes like Thor and the Phoenix Force, which is not the sentiment that fans took away from his much-maligned streaming series.
The Iron Fist is a title that is achieved only after defeating the immortal dragon Shou-Lao and absorbing its power, becoming the world’s greatest wielder of Chi energy. Though there have been many with this title, Danny Rand held the title for decades until recently ing it on to the former Sword Master, Lin Lie. His ascension to claiming these superhuman and mystical powers was a natural culmination of Rand’s obsessive and impressive martial arts training and also the fulfillment of a destiny that had been laid out for him by his father, Wendell Rand. Both Danny’s mother and father perished in seeking out the city, but their son made it to K’un-Lun, where he was welcomed and underwent rigorous training and tutelage.
Iron Fist got the opportunity to put all his training and power to the test when he squared off against one of Tony Stark’s secret weapons from his misjudged Civil War regime: a cyborg clone of Thor created from a strand of the original's hair Tony collected on his first day as an Avenger. After killing Goliath during the conflict and being taken down by Hercules, the clone was repurposed by Norman Osborne to be part of the Dark Avengers, bringing him into direct conflict with the New Avengers in New Avengers #21 (2010) by Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato, and Paul Mounts. Though it was a team effort to wear down their foe, who has the full power of Thor (but none of his human restraint or empathy), it was Iron Fist who was relied upon to deliver the knockout blow. And he absolutely did - with a punch that nearly destroyed the god-tier combatant.
To further illustrate the potential of Rand’s power, one of his predecessors as Iron Fist, Fongji, even managed to tame and use the Phoenix Force. Since this is another vastly overpowered entity and very few Marvel characters could defeat the Phoenix Force, Fongji’s ability to avoid its corruption and carry it off-world shows the next-level power and discipline that Rand can tap into. As Iron Fist, he is far more of a cosmic player than Netflix and even many of his own comic series have suggested.
In many of his exploits, Rand is dealing with street-level crime or delving into a world of mysticism and martial arts, making it easy to think of him solely in this context. That is why seeing Iron Fist’s knockout punch of a rampaging Thor clone is important, powering past any misconceptions on how strong he really is when it counts.
