Actor Peter Shinkoda, who played Nobu in Daredevil, has accused Marvel Television's Jeph Loeb of cutting storylines that focus on Asian characters. The last few years have seen something of a sea change in Hollywood, with prejudice and discrimination that was previously ignored finally brought out into the light.
The Justice Con digital event, designed to celebrate Zack Snyder's Justice League, forms a perfect case in point. Cyborg actor Ray Fisher has spoken up about Joss Whedon's abusive behavior on set; he won't cite specific examples due to a non-disclosure agreement, but at his JusticeCon panel Fisher insisted Whedon should be scared. According to Fisher, he's spent two-and-a-half years collecting evidence of Whedon's unprofessionalism, and he insisted he isn't bothered about any potential consequences for his own career.
In addition to Justice Con, fans of the Marvel Netflix show Daredevil are also holding their own digital event this weekend, called SaveDaredevilCon. One panel featured an interview with actor Peter Shinkoda, who played the Hand leader Nobu in Daredevil and The Defenders. Emboldened by current events, Shinkoda accused Marvel Television boss Jeph Loeb of racism, alleging Loeb vetoed Asian storylines and sidelined his character.
"Jeph Loeb told the writer's room not to write for Nobu and Gao, and this was reiterated many times by many of the writers and showrunners, that nobody cares about Chinese people and Asian people. There was three previous Marvel movies, a trilogy called Blade, where Wesley Snipes kills 200 Asians each movie, nobody gives a ****, so don't write about Nobu and Gao. And they were forced to put their storyline down and drop it. I am privy to that storyline, they explained it to me, and they were very apologetic that they couldn't go through with it, but their hands were tied. It was a very interesting storyline about having to go [to New York] under the guise of getting some kind of transplant for medical reasons, and it was a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy was fudged, so that Nobu could get into the country and then carry out his Black Sky plans. But all that backstory was dropped, and the writers that told me they were reluctant to do it because they were so stoked about the storyline, but they were prevented. So I had to concoct this other storyline and then rock that material that I was given. Regretfully, I didn't get to ever explore that."
Shinkoda's character was tremendously popular but he was consistently underdeveloped. In fact, when the Hand became a threat to all New York City in The Defenders, Marvel Television created a new lead for the ninja clan; Alexandra Reid, played - conveniently enough - by the American actress Sigourney Weaver. She was a completely original character with no basis in the comics, so this always seemed odd. Shinkoda's accusations of prejudice suggest a disturbing explanation.
It's important to place these allegations in context. Back in 2014, Marvel was still run by its reclusive and controversial CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has routinely been accused of both racism and sexism; his opposition to diversity was recently commented on by Disney CEO Bob Iger, who had to personally intervene in support of Black Panther. This kind of prejudice appears to have been a major source of dispute between Perlmutter and Kevin Feige, and in 2015, Feige came within a hair's breadth of quitting the industry altogether. Disney stepped in, forcing a major corporate restructure, pulling Marvel Studios out of the wider Marvel Entertainment group and placing Feige in charge of the films. Loeb, for his part, remained head of the Marvel Television division, although his influence is now waning as Feige has been given increased influence in Marvel Entertainment as well. With Marvel Studios now producing high-profile, high-budget shows for the Disney+ streaming service, Marvel Television as we know it appears to have wound down. Given the troubled context, it wouldn't be a surprise to find Marvel's problems with prejudice ran a lot deeper than the company would like to admit.
This is disappointing news, and the allegations cast a disturbing light upon Loeb's leadership. It's true that Marvel Television has become a lot more diverse as the years have gone on, with Chloe Bennet's Quake starring in Agents of SHIELD and Cloak & Dagger exploring questions of racial tension. But Shinkoda's claims suggest this may well have been in spite of Loeb, rather than because of him.
Source: #SaveDaredevilCon