The presence of Hong Kong cinematic legend Tony Leung lends authenticity to Marvel’s forthcoming superhero movie
When it comes to Asian superheroes, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has left a lot to be desired. Keen to avoid a backlash when depicting the traditionally stereotyped Mandarin supervillain in Iron Man 3, the studio cleverly cast part-south Asian
Actor Ben Kingsley as a drunken English luvvie, Trevor Slattery, who was only ever playing the role of Tony Stark’s evil nemesis. The only problem was that this was another role not going to an actor of east Asian extraction.
Then there were the
Netflix Marvel TV shows, in particular Iron Fist. While only loosely connected to the MCU, Iron Fist fell into the problematic “white saviour” trap by casting Finn Jones as kung-fu-kicking
New York rich kid Danny Rand, a stereotypical white guy who beats the Asian martial arts experts at their own game. Race-swapping Rand would have been to depart from the line of the original comic book, but that did not stop the studio casting Tilda Swinton as a “Celtic” take on the traditionally Asian Ancient One in Doctor Strange.