Nerd News Social Sits Down With Jeph Loeb And The Stars Of “Marvel’s Iron Fist”

During San Diego Comic-Con we got the chance to hang out in the Netflix press room and talk to Jeph Loeb (Executive Producer) as well as the amazing Simone Missick (Misty Knight) and Alice Eve (Mary Walker/Typhoid Mary) for the next season of Marvel’s Iron Fist.

Question: Simone, Your character got a new arm, where is she at going into Iron Fist Season 2?

Simone Missick (Misty Knight): I think going into Iron Fist Season 2, she is fully invested in who she is now. Something happens that brings her downtown, to check on Colleen and Danny. That’s were the journey starts. You get to see her outside of Harlem, outside of Uptown. It’s a different jurisdiction, so it’s a different set of problems, a different set of super hero people that she has to deal with. That’s exciting. It’s all about the devil you know, in Harlem, she knows Luke, Bushmaster, and Mariah. These are the people she has to deal with on a certain level, then she comes downtown and it’s a whole another set of problems.

Jeph Loeb (Executive Producer): It’s Chinatown Misty, it’s Chinatown.

Simone: China Town is downtown!

Question: Alice, How different will Typhoid Mary in Iron Fist, be from the comic book version?

Alice Eve (Mary Walker/Typhoid Mary): I actually think they have done well, M. Raven Metzner wrote Typhoid Mary in the movie Elektra, and has always been interested in the character, and is certainly versed in the comics. He educated me a lot, and gave me the comics to read. The essence of the comics is really viscerally violent, and violence as a response to trauma, and violence as a response to communication. I think she’d rather be violent then say hello. I think that has translated very well from over into the series. That’s the essence of what Raven took from the origin story, maybe there are slight departures, but the fury is there.

Question: Jeph, you famously own almost every Marvel Comic right from the beginning.

Jeph: Close. Some only go back to the beginning from ’64 on.

Question: Being a lifelong fan and collector, getting to…

Jeph: Would you like to buy the collection?

Question: Absolutely, but I can not afford that. Being able to go through those long boxes and start picking up these books, looking back, and saying “Now I’ve adapted that…” what is that feeling like?

Jeph: Look it’s thrilling, I’m the luckiest guy in the world, I have the coolest job in the world. I don’t take it for granted, and day of the week. It isn’t just that, but working with the team. It’s extraordinary. You never get to see them, because they are there on the ground trying to make sure things are happening right on “The Punisher” right now, or making sure that Runaways is going well. It’s that part of it. The bigger part is, particularly now, it’s really confusing on where Heroes are. Stories from Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and hundreds of others. There are people who would include me in with that groups, and I’m sort of like go, It’s an honor but I don’t think I contributed to the culture the way that they did. That is sort of the first odd thing, was that after having bought comics for so long, that to go to a comic book store, and see my name on a comic book, was a real experience. To then see those comics be turned into television shows, movies and have that experience world wide, even in particular with shows on Netflix, which are immediately transmitted day after day world wide, to 190 countries is the part that is really thrilling. We are telling stories that are effecting peoples lives. Whether it’s Mary’s story, Misty’s story, or the story of Danny Rand. His journey from in season one talking about how Danny is a billionaire and figuring out his place in the world. In this year, grounding him as a vigilante in Chinatown, trying to make good on a promise to Murdock when he died. It’s just cool.

Question: Alice, where are we entering into Mary’s life? Is it an Origin, flashbacks?

Alice: I think it’s fair to say it’s an origin story.

Jeph: Yes.

Alice: I think that’s what I certainly was investigating while we were doing it. I think that we don’t know in the beginning what we are doing, and she doesn’t know what she is doing. I think that through various events, and not knowing what her other personality did, is a big part of how she intergrates herself into the world as she does downtown. We do see some flashbacks.

Jeph: I think what’s cool about it is, we meet her at a certain part in her life, and then cards get tipped over as you go. There is a mystery about this woman. You don’t really know who she is, or what she wants. Then something happens, and you go “Oh, we didn’t realize that was what is happening.” It’s fun to talk about it here at comic con, but when people experience it, they aren’t going to know that she is Typhoid Mary, they are just going to be watching a show and this woman is going to come in and behave this way. Then another woman is going to come in and behave a different way, and they just happen to be played by the same woman. They are going to have to ask, what is happening here, and how does it effect the show.

Question: What do you say to your fans of Misty Knight that are having a tough time getting behind the change in canon for her story? About the Danny relationship?

Simone: I think, these shows are evolving. We are watching relationships happen. For example in the original comic books, Luke and Misty never get together. Not in the way that people expect, because Luke and Jessica are together. There are people who watched season one, episode one and were pissed. Yet, you have a bunch of people who want them together forever. People don’t know what they want till we give it to them.

Alice: Ripped down the middle!

Simone: Right, Exactly. Everything is always evolving in these shows, and the fans have to trust that Jeph, Raven, and Chan, all of the Marvel creators know what they are doing. They are telling the long story. What ever happens, they are going to be happy with it, or made with it. You can’t make everyone happy. Just like with Mary. A duality exists within everything.

Jeph: That’s awesome. I like when they do that.

Question: Rosario Dawson (Claire Temple) has been a unifying force within the shows. In almost every show, she has had an appearance. She does reach out to Danny for help in Luke Cage, are we going to see her in Luke Cage this season?

Jeph: Claire wont be in there, but our relationship with Rosario is awesome, and we love her. She loves us. When the story lends itself to that place, and hopefully she is available, we go down that road. There isn’t any momment were we haven’t said, were are with with Rosario? We tell the story and figure it out. What’s been fun about it, is that Simone has been giving her a run for the money on shows that she has been on. It always comes down to story. If it warrants that someone else should be in there… some people would be very satisfied if Danny Rand was getting on a bus, and Foggy Nelson was getting off the bus. That’s cool, but to a certain extent it’s more, “Really, that’s what you did?” So we look at it from the point of view, whats good for the story. We don’t want an easter egg farm. We do put stuff in there, but we don’t want it to be distractive to the story.

Question: Speaking of run for the money, are we going to see Turk Barrett in this season.

Jeph: I can’t confirm or deny where Turk is going to show up next. Rob Morgan is a terrific actor, and a part of our company.

Question: O’Reilly, mentions her friend Misty…

Jeph: Let’s just say it was not by mistake.

Question: I know that Misty hasn’t really interacted with Danny in this universe yet. How do they interact in this new season?

Simone: In Luke Cage season two, Misty gets her arm from Danny. There is a whole friendship that is intrinsic in just that. In Iron Fist season two, we get to watch that develop. I jokingly say that Misty is the third wheel at every one of Colleen and Danny’s date nights. She just keeps showing up when they are trying to drink tea. I think you get to watch how these two interact with each other as well. It’s in a new and interesting way from what fans are expecting.

Question: Simone, how does your relationship evolve with Colleen?

Simone: We start out hating each other, then we just mildly hate each other by the end of the season. I’m joking. Spoilers! These are two women who don’t have a lot of girlfriends. Not a lot of women they can call to gossip about their man problems. They found one another in this time when they have had this tramatic event together. Colleen feels oddly responsible for Misty losing her arm, and Misty doesn’t view her in this way. In Luke Cage season two Colleen comes in and picks up Misty from where she has sunk to, and in Iron Fist season two Colleen is in this way where she isn’t very certain as to who she is. These two women don’t spend those situations sitting around whining and crying, they deal with it in a very odd way, and it’s humorous. You get to enjoy a lot of levity and humor in Misty and Colleen’s relationship. I think it’s something the fans are really going to enjoy.

Make sure to start watching as soon as it drops on Netflix on September 7, 2018!

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