Earlier today, we sat down with Matt Yang King to discuss his role as Kung Lao in Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (which arrives August 31 on 4K/Blu-ray & Digital). The actor also played Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat 11, and is no stranger to the DC Universe after playing Ryan Choi/The Atom in Injustice 2, Eian in Batman Ninja, and Dr. Shin in Justice League: Throne of Atlantis.
Not many actors can say they've played in both the world of Mortal Kombat and the DCAU, and we wondered if Matt has any dream roles he'd like to lend his voice to, particularly in the latter.
It was then he shared his desire to increase the level of Asian-American representation in those movies. "In the DC Universe, I want to play any Asian superhero they bring to the fore," he stated. "The problem is, there are so few of them. I feel like we’re missing out on a market."
"There’s a huge opportunity for, and I’ve never understood this, the American market to really choose and pick Asian stars and bring forward and push forward American-centric Asian stars in animated formats. We seem to consume from the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean markets, and not understand that we can bring and promote stars here who would do incredibly well over there."
"You look at movies like Paper Tigers with Ron Yuan, another voiceover actor and amazing on-camera actor, and you realise we have a chance to really go over there and do some great stuff," Matt continued. "Look at Invincible. I feel like that’s what I want to do in the DC Universe. Write me an Asian-American character that I can really chew some scenery with and I’m all about it."
We're starting to see more Asian-American representation in Hollywood, but it's been an extremely slow process. It's fascinating to hear Matt's thoughts on that and the sort of roles he hopes to be able to able to sign up for in a franchise like the DCAU, and we can only hope Warner Bros. Animation presents him with those opportunities (Ryan Choi being put front and centre would be welcomed).
You can check back here tomorrow for our full interview with the actor about his role as Kung Lao in Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms, but in the meantime, watch the trailer below: