It's true, you have to eat a lot of crap to be a comic book fan—primarily in the form of decades old racism, and slavish homoerotic worship of white guys. So maybe that's why Marvel's Jessica Jones, and to a lesser degree, Luke Cage, were so welcome on Netflix. BUT! Since I suppose Marvel feels they HAVE to include Iron Fist to the lineup to fulfill their eventual dream of a Defenders series, we have to accept yet another white guy co-opting a non-white culture. Or do we? Here are some early reviews of Iron Fist (available starting today on Netflix), and... well, I guess this time around Marvel is getting what they deserve.

From Vanity Fair:

Aimless and dull, Iron Fist would be bad television even without its unseemly racial missteps. With them, it borders on unconscionable.

From USA Today:

Iron Fist has generated controversy for a “white savior” narrative and cultural appropriation ever since its comic-book debut in the 1970s, but there’s a bigger problem with the show: Jones’s protagonist is a complete dud. Danny’s not particularly likable — he annoyingly mansplains kung fu to sword-wielding sensei Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick), who regularly saves his behind — and he, like many of the main players, is undermined by poor characterization.

From Vulture:

You’ve probably also heard that Iron Fist is a big bag of Orientalist clichés. This is true. It’s far from the worst of its kind, but coming on the heels of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, both of which took greater risks with both style/mood and cultural point of view, the show feels like a regression. Jones is likable enough that you can’t despise his character, but Danny is still a young white guy’s fantasy about the mystical awesomeness of Asian religion and martial arts.

From the New York Times:

At a time when the “whitewashing” of Asian narratives and roles is a hot issue, “Iron Fist” is about a white man who spends a lot of time in a dojo and has a Buddhist aphorism for every occasion. The show has received prerelease criticism of the squandered-opportunity variety: Why not cast an Asian actor, even though the character in the comics is white?

From the Hindustan Times:

If your title is Iron Fist, the least we expect from you is some good, power-packed, well-choreographed action. But even that is asking too much from the show. The movements look so lazy, so weak. The awkwardness makes it look more Power Rangers than Daredevil. So, so much more Power Rangers.

Ouch. Anyway, there are plenty other things to do this weekend, right?