Harold May Have A Dark Secret On 'Iron Fist'

When a comic book is adapted, there's always going to be some changes made while other things stay the same. For example, when it comes to Danny Rand, in both the comics and the new Netflix Marvel show Iron Fist, his parents died and Danny was presumed dead for well over a decade before returning to New York City. However, in the comic books it was made clear that Danny's parents were murdered, which has led fans to wonder if Harold Meachum killed Danny's parents on Iron Fist.

Harold Meachum was the business partner of Danny's father, Wendell. In the comics, when Wendell decided to take his family on a trip, Harold opted to go along. It was on that trip that Harold killed Wendell and confessed his love for Danny's mother, Heather. His confession led to Heather running away from him with Danny and being killed by a wolf pack. Based on the previews for the show, it looks like Danny's parents' deaths may have occurred a little differently, but that doesn't mean the motive wasn't the same.

At New York Comic Con last year, David Wenham — who plays the aforementioned comic book villain — said he "used a mixture of the comic books and real-life 'captains of industry'" to create his version of Harold, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Overall though, he didn't say how much of what comic books fans know about Harold will transfer over to the TV show. "What was rather intriguing was the fact it was extremely mysterious," he said. "Marvel is a very secretive organization. They really left us hanging, so what that actually did was give, I think, a great spontaneity to the characters."

Even if Harold didn't kill Danny's parents on the show (though I'd find it hard to believe he wasn't somehow involved), it looks like he at least becomes murderous once Danny comes back and attempts to take back his birthright. In the previews, Harold is at one point seen with blood on his face and then seemingly stabbing someone. Meanwhile, in the background, an ominous voice says, "This city is no place for Danny Rand." Yikes!

So it seems even if Harold didn't kill Danny's parents, he probably won't have a problem with killing (or at least trying to kill) Danny, if it means keeping Rand Enterprises under his control.

You can find out more about Harold and figure out if he really did have something to do with Danny's parents' deaths when Iron Fist premieres on Netflix on Friday, March 17.