Does 'Iron Fist' Season 2 Tie Directly to 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'?

(Spoilers ahead for season 2 of Marvel’s “Iron Fist” on Netflix.)

All of the main characters in season 2 of Marvel’s “Iron Fist” on Netflix were introduced back in season 1 except one — Mary Walker (Alice Eve), the mysterious woman who saunters into Danny Rand’s (Finn Jones) life seemingly by accident.

Except as the season goes on it’s revealed it was not in any sense an accident, as Mary Walker has dissasociative identity disorder, and has a split personality — one of them is a very nice, sweet person, and the other is a private investigator/assassin.

The key moment in Mary’s life prior to her introduction on “Iron Fist” comes in a location that will be very familiar to fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Sokovia. Sokovia is the homeland of Wanda Maximoff, aka Scarlet Witch, and the location of both the opening fight and final battle in “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” It’s also where Helmut Zemo (Daniel Bruhl), the villain of “Captain America: Civil War,” hails from.

Also Read: 'Iron Fist' Post-Credits Teaser Hints at an Even Darker 'Daredevil' Season 3

At some point in the past, Mary Walker was an American soldier whose squad of eight was captured in Sokovia by unknown forces. Half her squad was killed in the ambush, three were executed by their captors, and only Mary Walker survived the order. After nearly two years in captivity, one of Walker’s alter egos broke out, killed all the captors and escaped.

There are some big question marks about this story — we don’t know who the captors were or whether Walker’s dissasociative identity disorder had surfaced before her time in captivity. One of the flashbacks to that time seems to indicate that the personality split did “occur” when it rained while she was locked up. And there’s really no information at all about who the bad guys were, aside from Walker referring to them in one scene as Sokovians.

My first impulse when she talked about being held captive in Sokovia was that she was held by HYDRA and Baron von Strucker. Strucker was in charge of the research base that the Avengers raided at the beginning of “Age of Ultron,” where HYDRA used Loki’s scepter and the Mind Stone inside it to give the Maximoff twins their powers. It could certainly track that Strucker experimented on Walker and that those experiments caused her mind to break. And perhaps they tossed her in a cell at an ancillary facility just to see if something developed over time.

Also Read: 'Iron Fist': What You Need to Know About Danny Rand's Glowing Guns

But there’s ultimately no evidence for all that. In fact, there’s so little information provided in “Iron Fist” that it’s impossible to say whether Mary Walker’s story has a tangible connection to the MCU films, like maybe that Zemo’s Sokovian military squad Eko Scorpion could have been involved somehow. It’s just as likely that it has no connection beyond the location.

However, I’d guess that we’re going to learn more about all this next time around, considering how Walker realized at the end of the season that she had a third personality that she didn’t know about, and it was that personality who broke her out of that cell and butchered all the guards present.

With Walker now on a quest to learn more about that third personality, the third season of “Iron Fist” will almost certainly revisit Walker’s time in Sokovia, and maybe we’ll learn more then. But for now, we’re left guessing.

'Iron Fist': All References to Other Marvel Netflix Shows Through Season 2

"Iron Fist" Season 2 is here, arriving in what is now a fully formed shared TV universe with Marvel's other Netflix shows. So let's take a look at all the ways "Iron Fist" calls back to "Daredevil," "Luke Cage," "Jessica Jones" and "The Defenders." Some spoilers here, obviously.
Netflix
Season 2 calls back to the literally earth-shattering events of "The Defenders" a few times. Most notably to the biggest development in the Marvel Netflix TVverse so far: the apparent death of Daredevil when the Midland Circle building collapsed on him and Elektra.
Misty Knight (Simone Missick), one of the main characters from "Luke Cage," also joined the main cast of "Iron Fist in season 2 -- paying back appearances by Danny Rand (Finn Jones) and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) in season 2 of "Luke Cage."
Misty also refers back to the battle at Midland Circle in "Defenders," which was where she lost her arm. But Colleen saved her life then, and in "Luke Cage" Danny paid to give Misty her trademark robot arm -- Misty and Colleen discuss both of those things during a heartfelt moment of bonding.
While Misty is operating in Chinatown, she consults with a detective from the local precinct, and he commiserates with her on how they both keep having to deal with these superpowered people -- the people with glowing fists down there and the super-strong and bulletproof Luke Cage back on Misty's turf in Harlem.
"Iron Fist" was the only Marvel Netflix show that the arms dealer Turk Barrett (Rob Morgan) hadn't shown up in, but that changed near the end of season 2 when he sells guns to Ward Meachum (Tom Pelphrey) and Mary Walker (Alice Eve).
Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Anne Moss) is one of the main characters in "Jessica Jones," and she appeared in season 1 of "Iron Fist" as Danny Rand's legal counsel.
Netflix
Madame Gao (Wai Ching Ho) is one of the behind-the-scenes villains of "Daredevil" as leader of the Hand -- which constantly does battle with the Devil himself. The Hand is also a major player in season 1 of "Iron Fist," with Gao herself pulling the strings behind some of Rand Enterprises' illicit ventures.
Netflix
Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson) is the main thread between all the Marvel Netflix shows, appearing in a substantial role in nearly all of them, including season 1 of "Iron Fist."
Netflix
Back in season 1, the Hand was using Rand resources to produce some awesome new kind of heroin, and one of the corporate heroin reps mentions that they're the Dogs of Hell is distributing. You'll probably remember that biker gang from "Daredevil" Season 2, when the Punisher slaughtered a whole bunch of them.
Netflix
When Danny (Finn Jones) first climbed up to Howard Meachum's (David Wenham) secret lair back in season 1, Ward almost killed him by shoving him off a ledge. Later, Ward would berate Danny for climbing around "like godd--- Daredevil."
Netflix
The New York Bulletin has played a major part in both seasons of "Daredevil," and it also figured into "Iron Fist" in a small but important way. The first instance came at Danny's press conference declaring his return back in season 1 -- a reporter named Jennifer Many from the Bulletin asked the first question.
Netflix
Later in season 1, when everybody's mad at Danny for accidentally admitting fault in a corporate lawsuit, he leaks info to Karen Page at the Bulletin as leverage. Karen, of course, is one of the main characters in "Daredevil." She quit Matt Murdock's law firm to work as a journalist in Season 2.
Netflix
During Colleen's second cage fight in the middle of season 1, she fought a man named Jimmy Pierce, played by stuntman Jay Hieron. Hieron also appeared in "Jessica Jones" as one of the Kilgrave's thugs. His "Jessica Jones" character was unnamed, but it's not hard to imagine that Killgrave's muscle, freed from his influence, would end up in cage fights.
Netflix
In season 1 when Claire and Colleen decide to take the injured Radovan (Olek Krupa) to a hospital, they go to the one where Claire works, Metro-General. That hospital has previously been the scene of important parts of "Daredevil" and "Jessica Jones."
Netflix
As Claire and Colleen run around the hospital trying to find the kidnapped Radovan, Claire mutters "Sweet Christmas," an expletive she definitely got from hanging around with Luke Cage so much.
Netflix
Gao mentions "the devil of Hell's Kitchen" and "the man with unbreakable skin," as she sanctimoniously preaches at Danny in episode 7 of season 1.
Netflix
In season 1, Claire is seen reading a letter marked "uncensored inmate mail" -- which would be from Luke Cage, who was locked up at the end of his show's first season.
Netflix
Back in season 1, Joy (Jessica Stroup) hired a private investigator to blackmail the Rand board. "She was worth every penny when she was sober," Joy said, a pretty obvious reference to Jessica Jones and her love of hard liquor.
Netflix
BONUS: In season 1, Rand's corporate counsel tells Joy and Ward that the video of Danny admitting fault in the previously mentioned suit has "more YouTube views than that incredible green guy." He's talking, of course, about the Incredible Hulk from the movies -- one of only two mentions in "Iron Fist" of the films that these shows share a universe with.
Netflix
BONUS: The other reference to the Marvel movies comes in the form of Mary Walker's backstory. Her personality split came when she was being held captive by a mysterious group in Sokovia for nearly two years. Sokovia, as you may recall, was the final country where the climactic battle of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" took place, and has also featured in ABC's "Agents of SHIELD."

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The new season calls back to the others parts of the Marvel Netflix TVverse in ways both obvious and subtle

"Iron Fist" Season 2 is here, arriving in what is now a fully formed shared TV universe with Marvel's other Netflix shows. So let's take a look at all the ways "Iron Fist" calls back to "Daredevil," "Luke Cage," "Jessica Jones" and "The Defenders." Some spoilers here, obviously.

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'Iron Fist': All References to Other Marvel Netflix Shows Through Season 2

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