The Marvel character Iron Fist, which was inspired by such movies as Enter the Dragon and the Game of Death, will soon be made into a TV show for Netflix.
Now, according to the Comics Alliance, a petition has been launched to encourage Marvel to hire an Asian American actor to play Iron Fist, otherwise known as Danny Rand.
Up to now, the character in the comics has been portrayed as a blond white male.
Keith Chow, co-editor of the Asian American anthologies Secret Identities and Shattered said “an Asian American Danny Rand can still be all the things from the comic: the son of a wealthy businessman on an expedition in China, student of Lei Kung, lover of Misty Knight, friend to Luke Cage. Danny being white is not essential to any of this.
“In fact, his whiteness is the most problematic thing about the character. The parts of the classic Iron Fist story I have the most problems with — its Orientalism and cultural appropriation — can be alleviated if an Asian American actor is Danny.”
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A petition has been launched by 18 Million Rising to help make this happen.
Chow understands casting an Asian American actor might upset some fans of the Iron Fist. He addresses those concerns in the Comics Alliance.
