Asian movie fans rave on speculation Marvel will cast Chinese actor as superhero Shang-Chi for big screen
- Industry reporter tweets that studio may hire star of Chinese heritage for big role
- Marvel eager to follow huge success of African-American hero Black Panther
Chinese movie fans lit up social media when it emerged on Saturday that Marvel Studios may be planning to cast an actor of Chinese heritage for Shang-Chi, its all-Asian superhero film.
“Hearing [that] Marvel is putting out [screen] test offers for a group of men in their 20s for its Shang-Chi movie,” Justin Kroll, a reporter for US entertainment industry publication Variety, tweeted.
“Marvel have also insisted to reps [actor’s agents who were] offering up their clients for the role that they have to be of Chinese ancestry – no other Asian ancestry accepted,” Kroll wrote.
Production of the movie is expected to begin in January, but Marvel has not announced a date for the big screen debut of its highest-profile Asian character.
In December, the Deadline entertainment website reported that Marvel had announced plans to hire Asian and Asian-American filmmakers to work on the project for greater cultural authenticity, following the success of 2018’s Black Panther, with its primarily non-white cast and crew.