Iron Fist‘s publicity tour is getting off to a weird start, with actor Finn Jones striking out against critics and arguing with fans on Twitter. Now, he’s blaming bad reviews on the president.
“I think the world has changed a lot since we were filming,” Jones told the Radio Times. “I’m playing a white American billionaire superhero, at a time when the white American billionaire archetype is public enemy number one, especially in the US.”
He said it was “interesting” to see how the election impacted Iron Fist‘s critical reception, because Donald Trump “makes it very difficult to root for someone coming from white privilege.”
It’s safe to say that many people never found it easy to root for “someone coming from white privilege,” which is why so many fans wanted Marvel to cast an Asian American actor as Iron Fist. On the other hand, Donald Trump didn’t hurt the popularity of Lego Batman, another superhero adaptation with a white billionaire lead.
Unfortunately for Finn Jones, Iron Fist‘s bad reviews can probably be blamed on a simpler explanation: it’s just not very good. The political backlash existed long before the election, and the reviews criticized a lot of non-political elements like the script, performances, and action scenes. You have to wonder why Marvel is allowing him to keep arguing with criticism like this, instead of refocusing the media attention on more positive topics.
