Colleen's Backstory In The Marvel Comics May Help Us Understand Her In 'Iron Fist'

It may seem like the new season of Iron Fist is all about Danny Rand at the beginning, but soon it shifts focus and proves that Colleen Wing is the real star of the new run of episodes. We also get a very enlightening look into her family history and a powerful new ability, which could end up meaning a lot of big things for her character moving forward. With all these revelations about her character, it is useful to look at Colleen Wing's backstory in the Marvel comics to get to know her better. Let's get into that wild character evolution.

At the beginning of Iron Fist Season 2, we see Colleen Wing mostly as we have seen her in the first season. Now that she has revoked The Hand, even killing her former mentor Bakuto in The Defenders, Colleen is closer to Danny Rand than ever. The two are living together in a spacious loft in Chinatown, and their romantic relationship seems to be stronger than ever. The only notable difference is that Colleen has put her martial arts in her past, having closed down her dojo and hung up her cherished katana on the mantle. But of course, Colleen cannot stay out of a fight for too long.

Spoiler alert: The rest of this post contains major spoilers for Season 2 of Iron Fist. Towards the end of the new season, Colleen Wing is forced to return to her Sensei mode and teach Danny Rand to fight again after the powers of the Iron Fist are stolen from him by Davos. Danny's interactions with Colleen force him to realize that he has been overly motivated by the power of the Iron Fist for too long, rather than fighting for the things he should actually care about. As they prepare to regain the power of the Iron Fist from Davos, Danny implores Colleen to take the power instead of himself.

Although Colleen initially declines, she comes around to the idea after some meaningful chats with Danny and Misty Knight. The first ritual to transfer the Iron Fist's power from Davos to Colleen is interrupted, leaving both Davos and Colleen with half of the power. But after one final battle, Colleen is able to take all of the Iron Fist's power for herself, and in a quick epilogue scene, we see her fighting crime in New York with her new power, even able to transfer it into her sword.

This power transference follows from Danny Rand leaving Colleen a note about her family ancestry. According to folklore that both Danny and Colleen grew up with, Colleen may actually be descended from an ancient heroine, which is part of why Danny felt she was destined to receive the Iron Fist's power.

But this major development is a pretty big divergence from the Marvel comic books. Colleen Wing never truly inherits the power of the Iron Fist in the comics, although Danny does mind meld with her during one story arc, which results in her gaining some of his K'un-L'un abilities to control and focus her chi.

With her newfound Iron Fist powers, it definitely looks like Colleen Wing is going to be a bigger part of the Defenders universe than ever before.