Lei Kung (character)

Lei Kung the Thunderer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a master martial artist whose pupils include his son Steel Serpent and Iron Fist.

Lei Kung
Lei Kung as depicted in New Avengers (vol. 2) #25 (April 2012). Art by Mike Deodato (penciler), Will Conrad (inker), and Rain Beredo (colorist).
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Marvel Premiere #15 (May 1974)
Created by	Len Wein Roy Thomas Larry Hama
In-story information
Alter ego	Lei Kung
Species	Human
Notable aliases	Lei Kung the Thunderer
Abilities	Master martial artist

Lei Kung was portrayed by Hoon Lee in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Netflix television series Iron Fist.

Publication history

The character first appeared in Marvel Premiere #16 (July 1974).^[1]

Fictional character biography

Yu-Ti apprenticed the young Danny Rand to Lei Kung the Thunderer, who teaches him the martial arts while in the mystical city of K'un-L'un. The Steel Serpent, Lei's exiled son, later becomes an enemy of Iron Fist while seeking to claim his power.^[2]

After she was busted for training three cavemen, Fan Fei was chained up and watched as the cavemen were fed to Shou-Lao by Lei Kung. When Fei defeated Shou-Lao, Kung had Fei exiled from K'un-Lun. Sometime later, Kung was at the entrance of K'un-Lun when Fei came across it. Kung states that her sentencing was wrong and wanted to bring her home. Fei declined stating that Earth was her home and her fights here are just the beginning.^[3]

When Steel Serpent failed to defeat Shou-Lao, Lei Kung found him weeping in the snow before taking him back to K'un-L'un.^[4]

During the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline, Iron Fist brings Lei Kung to take Hope Summers to K'un-L'un for training.^[5] As the Phoenix Force-powered Namor attacks Wakanda, Iron Man tells Kung to pull Hope back to K'un-L'un and seal the portal before Namor gets through. The Avengers later arrive in K'un-L'un.^[6] When the Phoenix Force-powered Cyclops attacks K'un-L'un, Kung meets with Hope outside the Cave of Shou-Lao telling her that it is time for her final lesson. The two ride Shou-Lao into battle, but are blasted out of the air by the Phoenix Force-powered Cyclops. Tapping into Shou-Lao's powers, Hope returns Cyclops to Earth, temporarily incapacitating him.^[7] K'un-L'un is rebuilt following the battle, but Kung refuses outside help in doing so.^[8]

Powers and abilities

The weapons master of K'un-Lun, Lei Kung is a martial arts expert, one of the finest in the Marvel universe.

In other media

Lei Kung appears in Iron Fist, portrayed by Hoon Lee.^{[9][10][11][12][13]}