Well all of the trades are trumpeting the news that Ray Park has nailed the role of IRON FIST in this... the first of the Marvel/Artisan comic-to-film properties. Now Ray is a fan favorite, but while we all know he is proven as hell as a physical performer and stuntman... So far we have never really seen him act.
He was dubbed in THE PHANTOM MENACE, his character, THE TOAD, in X-MEN had nearly nothing to say throughout the film... and in SLEEPY HOLLOW he had no head, and when he did... he was Christopher Walken. Now this doesn't mean that Ray Park can't act, merely that as of yet, he is unproven in terms of being able to carry an entire film.
The key now is to find a gifted director like Tsui Hark or Andrew Lau or Sammo Hung or Woo-ping Yuen.... who can best make use of his talents as a physical performer... and create a universe best suited for a character who's actions speak louder than words.
Speaking of words, John Turman (who's HULK and BUCK ROGERS drafts have yet to be produced and may never be) will be handling the screenplay duties on this one, which is fast tracked at Artisan. Personally, I really hope they can pull this off. Iron Fist was a fun read ever since those early days of Marvel Premiere.... too bad we won't be seeing a certain Luke Cage in the film.... sigh.... that'd rule.
