Whether or not you believe that Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. belongs in the MCU or alongside it, there is no denying that the series has done its due diligence by exploring a number of comic book storylines. These include Ghost Rider, Hydra, LMD's, Hive, the Inhumans, and many more.
The Inhumans saga is one of the most fleshed out and explored on the series, especially as there are several members of the team with Inhuman DNA (Quake & Yoyo). During the story arc, the series utilized a number of talented actors and actresses for guest appearances including Dichen Lachman, Gabriel Luna, and Tohoru Masamune.
Masamune is best known for portraying Shredder in the 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film and currently stars as Dr. Matt Lin in the Twitch sci-fi series Artificial. We caught up with the actor to learn more about his projects and help support his current series, and we also spoke about Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. We wouldn't be Comic Book Movie if we didn't discuss it, regardless of how small his part was in the show.
If you're interested in hearing the audio component of the interview with Tohoru, click the podcast link below. Skip to 31:30 to hear us chat about Marvel.
Literary Joe: I'm curious if you worked with any of the cast and crew of Artificial other than Bernie prior to this?
Tohoru Masamune: Alexandra, who played my wife May from Season 2, the character who passed away from cancer. We've run into each other forever over the years. We really bonded on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Literary Joe: Yeah, I was actually going to ask you about that because I remember that you had a small part in that. I think it was an Inhumans episode?
Tohoru Masamune: Yeah, it was. It was a big conference.
Literary Joe: Was it about the legality of the Inhumans or something?
Tohoru Masamune: Yeah, exactly.
Literary Joe: I just got my girlfriend to watch the show and we re-watched everything ahead of the new season so we actually just saw you.
Tohoru Masamune: Oh nice! Just by coincidence?
Literary Joe: Oh yeah, completely by coincidence. Before I even knew I was talking to you.
Tohoru Masamune: (Laughs) There you go! I was the delegate from Japan and she was the one from Taiwan, and that was supposedly her house. And we kind of bonded there, right?
And there was one point where Bernie came up to me later as they were writing along and he asked me if I knew anybody who could play my estranged wife. And I remember thinking that I had just the person.
You know, of course, we had auditions and everything like that and she was fantastic and so we worked together there.
*This interview has been edited for clarity.*
What do you think of Masamune's comments? Check out Twitch's Artificial below, and be sure to share your thoughts in the usual spot!
As the fallout of Kira's investigation drives Dr. Lin into isolation, Elle and Justin move forward with the AI Lilith's development. The familiar faces of Zander and Carmen challenge the mission of the project by raising questions about the AI's past and future. How will Lilith adapt to all these conflicts? It's up to you.
Artificial is live and interactive every Thursday at 5pm PST on Twitch.