About

The Iron Fist Casting Controversy refers to an online backlash against the casting of actor Finn Jones as the Marvel superhero Iron Fist in an upcoming Netflix series based on the comic book character. While many argued that casting a white actor for the role instead of an Asian-American was emblematic of racial prejudice in the entertainment industry, others noted that the character was portrayed as white in the original comics and claimed casting an Asian actor would promote racial stereotypes.

Background

In 1974, the Marvel superhero Iron Fist first appeared in comics 15-25 of the series Marvel Premiere, in which he was introduced as a Kung Fu master who can produce supernatural energy from his fists. On November 6th, 2013, Marvel announced that a television series based on the character would be released on Netflix.

Asian-American Actor Campaign

On May 25th, 2015, Redditor ricehatwarrior submitted a post titled "Rational Discussion on an Asian Iron Fist Casting" to the /r/Marvel^[7] subreddit, in which he argued for the casting on an Asian American for the role. In December, those who supported the casting of an Asian-American for the role launched the hashtag #AAIronFist^[1] on Twitter. On December 9th, 2015, Comic Book Resources^[8] Editor Albert Ching published an article titled "I Don't Want an Asian-American Iron Fist," in which he argued that casting an Asian-American for the role "could potentially further stereotypes and restrict progress for Asians on screen." On January 19th, 2016, Vox^[3] reported that many were pushing for Netflix to cast an Asian American instead of a white actor for the role and argued that the character was "conceptually flawed" for being white.

Finn Jones Casting Announcement

On February 25th, 2016, Entertainment Weekly^[2] reported that actor Finn Jones would play Iron Fist in the upcoming series.

Notable Developments

Online Reaction

On February 25th, Marvel comic book writer Marjorie Liu tweeted her disapproval for the casting, referring to the character's styoryline as "an orientalist-white-man-yellow fever narrative" (shown below).^[4]

The same day, comic book writer Jon Tsuei tweeted that many of the online conversations surrounding the controversy demonstrate how "little people care" to understand Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) experiences (shown below).^[5] The following day, Vox^[6] published a follow-up article titled "The Outrage Over Marvel's Iron Fist Casting, Explained."

External References