Joy's Story Took An Unexpected Turn On 'Iron Fist'

Joy's story arc over the course of Iron Fist's first season was kinda underwhelming for various reasons. For starters, she spent most of her time assisting all of the men around her rather than doing what she actually wanted. And even when she did stray from her designated plan (helping Danny acquire a DNA fingerprint from the handmade bowl he gave her), it didn't end up leading to any big character development. However, the final episode started her on an unexpected path and may lead some fans to wonder: is Joy Meachum a villain on Iron Fist? The series certainly seems to be grooming her to become one. Warning: spoilers from Season 1 ahead!

Granted, Joy wasn't exactly what you would call "nice" at the beginning of the season either. She refused to believe anything Danny said and even went so far as to drug him and place him in a mental facility. Sure, she felt badly about it, but she still did it. And even when she started questioning her choices, her words rarely led to any action being taken to rectify the situation. Initially, I thought it was because she was being cast as timid, but maybe it was meant to tease the type of person she would end up becoming.

During Episode 13, Danny's old friend from K'un-Lun, Davos, was seen meeting with Joy and offering her the chance to help take Danny down for good (while Madame Gao listened in the background). Apparently he wants to make Danny pay for ever leaving his post at K'un-Lun in the first place (or at least I suspect that's his motivation?), and he wants Joy's help in order to see it through. And her response? "I'm listening..."

Umm, excuse me? This guy was your childhood friend and now you are interested in straight up murdering him? Why? Because you blame him for your father's death? He wasn't even the one to kill Harold. I mean, yeah, her life got seriously more stressful ever since Danny returned home, but it seems weird for her to jump right to murder about it, especially after he was willing to turn himself over to Bakuto and The Hand in order to save her, Ward, and Harold. So will she have a change of heart or is this the beginning of her villain origin story? I'm starting to think it could be the latter.

Whether she would appear in The Defenders remains to be seen, though, if Iron Fist does get picked up for a second season, this is definitely something that could get explored and hopefully add more depth to her character. (Evil depth, but depth nonetheless.) Harold had no qualms about killing others for his own means. Perhaps Joy has inherited that particular personality trait and will become the Lex Luthor to Danny's Iron Fist.