Marvel's Daredevil actor Peter Shinkoda says the show's Asian actors were not invited to the season 2 premiere. Shinkoda played Nobu Yoshioka, leader of the Hand, a super-villain organization in Daredevil and The Defenders. Shinkoda previously spoke out on Sunday during #SaveDaredevilCon about the discriminatory behavior the Asian cast members have faced on set of the Marvel Netflix series.
During this weekend's #SaveDaredevilCon panel, the actor accused former Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb of making racist remarks toward Asians and preventing the writers from developing their characters' storylines. He said the series had more storylines planned for Nobu and Madame Gao, played by Wai Ching Ho, but Loeb forced the writers to sideline the characters because "nobody cares about Chinese people and Asian people." Shinkoda continues to share the racist behavior he experienced.
On Twitter, Shinkoda wrote that he and Ching Ho were not invited to the season 2 premiere of the series. "[Wai Ching Ho] aka [Madame Gao] and I, [Nobu] of [Daredevil] weren't at the season 2 premiere...because we weren't invited," he said. "Wai was insulted...and that pissed me off A LOT. We found out about the event as it live-streamed. 'They' were sorry we were 'overlooked'."
Nobu and Madame Gao were popular characters among Daredevil fans, causing many to wonder why they were not featured more. According to Shinkoda, the show was meant to explore Nobu's journey to America to help Gao and the Hand with their Black Sky plans, but the writers were forced to drop the storyline. In The Defenders, Marvel Television created a new lead for the Hand played by Sigourney Weaver, which confused fans considering the character was not at all adapted from the comics. However, this is not the first time Loeb has been under fire about Asian representation. When actor Finn Jones was announced as the lead for Marvel's Iron Fist, the series faced criticism for using the "white savior" trope and not casting an Asian actor as the lead character who learns martial arts in an ancient and magic Asian city. Loeb then faced even more criticism when he showed up to San Diego Comic-Con to promote the series wearing a karate uniform. Altogether, it speaks to a pattern of racism against the Asian actors on Marvel TV shows.
The allegations against Loeb are especially troubling considering Marvel Television's supposed attempt to promote more diversity over the years. However, it may not be surprising to fans considering Marvel seems to have a history of prejudice problems. With Loeb leaving Marvel TV and the live-action television branch moving to be under Kevin Feige's purview, perhaps the studio can include more diverse representation. It would have been nice for fans to see more of Nobu and Madame Gao in Daredevil and The Defenders, but Marvel now at least has an answer as to why the characters were so abruptly pushed to the side. It's admirable to see actors speaking up more about their mistreatment on sets and it will hopefully cause these studios to make some serious changes.
Source: Peter Shinkoda/Twitter