Chinese-born Canadian Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Rings star Simu Liu has put Hollywood on blast for what he refers to as “backsliding” on Asian representation,
The actor, who has never been shy about speaking his mind on social media, took to Threads to call out the double standard he feels exists in the movie industry which allows white actors to "fail upwards" by continuing to land highly sought-after roles despite their films losing money for the studio..
“Put some Asians in literally anything right now,” Liu said in response to another post calling for Hollywood to cast more Asian male actors as romantic leads in movies. “The amount of backslide in our representation onscreen is f*cking appalling. Studios think we are risky.”
Despite the perceived risk, Liu mentioned several movies featuring Asian leads that proved to be massive box office hits, including Minari, Farewell, Past Lives, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Crazy Rich Asians, and, of course, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
“Every single one a financial success," he added. "No Asian actor has ever lost a studio even close to 100 million dollars but a white dude will lose 200 million TWICE and roll right into the next tentpole lead. We’re fighting a deeply prejudiced system. And most days it SUCKS.”
Liu is far from the first actor to raise these concerns, and it's difficult to argue with the perception that studios are far less concerned about diversity in their movies these days.
Shang-Chi will appear in Avengers: Doomsday, but a recent report claimed that Liu was originally going to play a major role in The Kang Dynasty prior to the project being revamped.
According to Inverse, "in the original plan for Avengers 5, then called Kang Dynasty, Shang-Chi would've been one of the film's main leads."
Marvel was forced to make some big changes to the story following Kang actor Jonathan Majors' assault conviction, and we got word during last year's San Diego Comic-Con that the movie is now titled Avengers: Doomsday, with Tony Stark actor Robert Downey Jr. set to make his MCU return as Victor Von Doom.
Shang-Chi is still expected to be a fairly important part of the story, but it sounds like his role may have been significantly reduced.
What do you make of Liu's comments? Be sure to let us know down below.
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were recently hit with significant delays, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.
Both movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.