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Kevin Feige on Black Panther, "My heroes looked liked me. I want others to have that feeling"

TerminusFox

TerminusFox

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,851
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige is well aware of the cost of Black Panther, and is equally tuned into just how important it is to bring the highly anticipated hero and his homeland to the big screen the right way, whatever the cost. For fictional characters battling it out in largely fictional areas of our world, sometimes a setting that feels familiar or provides an emotional connection helps to ground the story; think about The Avengers‘ Battle of New York and how much that has impacted the MCU. The same can be said for Wakanda, a fictional nation that I desperately want to be a real place, and which becomes a character in its own right in Black Panther.
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“It’s something that’s easy to take for granted, growing up in the United States as a white male, that my cinematic heroes look like me. I never thought they looked exactly like me, because I’m not a big athletic hero, but they do. It’s something that over the course of these ten years, having a certain amount of power over what type of movies are made and what type of actors we hire, I want everybody to have that feeling. We don’t take it for granted that people want to see themselves reflected in our heroes and our characters. That’s been the case in the comics for years, and, finally, that’s the case in the movies, and will only continue from here.”
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http://collider.com/black-panther-budget-cast-diversity-kevin-feige/#marvel

MOD POST EDIT:

A few points before we try this again:

This is not the thread to mention that you don't see color, or don't care about the diversity of fictional characters. Posts of that nature only serve to dismiss the concerns of other posters and will be warned or banned going forward.

Please refrain from derailing the discussion with comparisons to Iron Fist, or anything else outside of the films that Kevin Feige produces.

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Starlight Glimmer

Starlight Glimmer

User banned for use of an alt account.
Banned
Dec 30, 2017
265
User Warned: Dismissive towards representation of race
I never understood this, my heroes look nothing like me and some aren’t even human.
 
DigitalOp

DigitalOp

Member
Nov 16, 2017
8,345
Iron Fist doesn't HAVE to be Caucasian though.

I'd argue making him Asian American would add layers to the story.
 
Jom

Jom

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,412
Elegant Weapon said:
He has no power within Marvel Television, unfortunately. I'm sure he would have given Danny the Hank Pym treatment otherwise
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Yeah that's true. That show was just really a lost opportunity to show an Asian American in the lead role, especially when three out of the four members of the Defenders are already white. It still would have had the whole fish-out-of-water theme, because it's not like most American-born Asian people have much connection to their heritage.
 
Pasha

Pasha

Member
Jan 27, 2018
2,220
Isak_Borg said:
Iron Fist is white in the comics and really not sure what your beef is.

If you wanted to talk shit you could have said "Why aren't they making Shang Chi" or any other of the asian based marvel characters.
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I think it's because some people believe that only Asians can do martial arts.
 
Mugsy

Mugsy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
829
A random fact about Feige, his first feature film credit on wikipedia was actually as associate producer on Blade.
 
Isak_Borg

Isak_Borg

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
539
DigitalOp said:
Iron Fist doesn't HAVE to be Caucasian though.

I'd argue making him Asian American would add layers to the story.
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Brah, doesn't matter.

Character is white and part of the story of him not being accepted within a culture and surpassing that to be a part of it.

I'm so tired of this week as Iron Fist complaining.
 
DigitalOp

DigitalOp

Member
Nov 16, 2017
8,345
Isak_Borg said:
Brah, doesn't matter.

Character is white and part of the story of him not being accepted within a culture and surpassing that to be a part of it.

I'm so tired of this week as Iron Fist complaining.
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Making him an entitled corporate bitchboy doesn't help him either so obviously they took liberties with the story.

You mad or nah?
 
Jom

Jom

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,412
Isak_Borg said:
Iron Fist is white in the comics and really not sure what your beef is.

If you wanted to talk shit you could have said "Why aren't they making Shang Chi" or any other of the asian based marvel characters.
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I mean the comic was also full of racism towards Asians, I guess they should have just kept that too.
 
Stinkles

Stinkles

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
20,459
Galactic Specter said:
But Iron Fist is Caucasian.
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I think there’s a legitimate but separate conversation to be had about Danny’s “white guy swiping other culture’s stuff and becoming the best practitioner of it “ and more so than the Dr Strange origins. Bigger question is what should we’re be doing with problematic historical choices and media representations. I personally don’t have any answers but I accept it’s a serious conversation.
 
VeePs

VeePs

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,531
Jom said:
Yeah that's true. That show was just really a lost opportunity to show an Asian American in the lead role, especially when three out of the four members of the Defenders are already white. It still would have had the whole fish-out-of-water theme, because it's not like most American-born Asian people have much connection to their heritage.
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Definitely a missed oppurtinity, but I feel like if they did it there would be backlash. But I think it would’ve been the better choice imo, that one actor that Iron Fist fought in Episode 9 would’ve been a decent Asian american actor for Fist also.

They should still bring in Shang Chi imo. Possibly change his back story a bit. Because he doesn’t have “superpowers” they wouldn’t need to spend the budget on things like Iron Fist’s Fist or dumb ways to kill people like Luke Cage.
 
ElBoxy

ElBoxy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,049
VeePs said:
Definitely a missed oppurtinity, but I feel like if they did it there would be backlash. But I think it would’ve been the better choice imo, that one actor that Iron Fist fought in Episode 9 would’ve been a decent Asian american actor for Fist also.

They should still bring in Shang Chi imo. Possibly change his back story a bit. Because he doesn’t have “superpowers” they wouldn’t need to spend the budget on things like Iron Fist’s Fist or dumb ways to kill people like Luke Cage.
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There would have been no controversy as long as he was treated as a character instead of an Asian dude that knows kung fu.
 
Jom

Jom

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,412
Pasha said:
I think it's because some people believe that only Asians can do martial arts.
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Lol this has absolutely nothing to do with it. Us minorities have so little representation especially in superhero movies that despite it being a stereotype it's secondary to actually seeing someone like you being represented.

You think black people are going around "HEY WTF WHY IS THERE SOME TRIBAL ELEMENTS IN BLACK PANTHER?!" No it's being celebrated like crazy. Get out of here with the concern trolling about this shit.
 
Davidion

Davidion

Charitable King
Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,651
"Wow, what a nice sounding sentiment. Surely people share the sentiment that we can all help advocate eac...*opens thread*..."

:|
 
Yasuke

Yasuke

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,052
ReginOfFire said:
what the hell are you on about? Im not saying its a bad thing if this helps people im just saying it was ok for me growing up seeing white actor superhero movies
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Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

Anyone who doesn't understand how important being able to see yourself represented in media is is just playing stupid at this point.

Davidion said:
"Wow, what a nice sounding sentiment. Surely people share the sentiment that we can all help advocate eac...*opens thread*..."

:|
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Breh.
 
Isak_Borg

Isak_Borg

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
539
Stinkles said:
I think there’s a legitimate but separate conversation to be had about Danny’s “white guy swiping other culture’s stuff and becoming the best practitioner of it “ and more so than the Dr Strange origins. Bigger question is what should we’re be doing with problematic historical choices and media representations. I personally don’t have any answers but I accept it’s a serious conversation.
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This is a good post.

I would argue that Danny's whiteness is an integral part of his character and reason for being but is there a space to completely work on it in a better way? FUCK YES!

I just don't think race changing a character is the answer to these problems.

Creating characters from the ground up with their own identity, character, and powers is the best way to go.
 

Marvelous

Member
Nov 3, 2017
213
Starlight Glimmer said:
I never understood this, my heroes look nothing like me and some aren’t even human.
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ReginOfFire said:
same
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Some people are different than you. They find different ways to relate to things, have different levels and types of imagination and attachment. I'm sure there are a number of things you can't relate to, either.

Minorities are chastised and judged based on the color of skin, and as a result, this judgement is ingrained in their world view. It's about including as many different people and viewpoints as possible, even if it might not make sense to you.
 
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