Producer Of Live-action Mulan Says Li Shang Will Not Appear In Film

Disney's live-action remake of Mulan, already notable for not featuring the music of the animated original, will also not feature one of the animated film's primary characters.

Yesterday, Cinema Blend reported that Li Shang, the captain in the animated Mulan who trains and grows close with the title character while believing she's a man and falls in love with her when he realizes she's a woman, will not appear in the upcoming live-action film. Instead, his role will be split between two new characters: Commander Tung, Mulan's trainer and regiment leader, and Cheng Honghui, a fellow soldier and potential love interest.

Reporter Dirk Libbey wrote that when he visited the set of Mulan in 2018, he spoke with producer Jason Reed, who said of the change:

I think particularly in the time of the Me Too movement, having a commanding officer that is also the sexual love interest was very uncomfortable and we didn’t think it was appropriate. And we thought that in a lot of ways that it was sort of justifying behavior that we’re doing everything we can to get out of our industry.

Reed also spoke about the role Shang has taken on as an LGBT icon in the years since the animated film's release.

So we split Li Shang into two characters. One became Commander Tung who serves as her surrogate father and her mentor in the course of the movie and the other is Honghui who is her equal in the squad and there is no power dynamic between them but there is the same dynamic that was in the original movie with Li Shang which is like ‘Hey, I really respect you, and why do I like this dude so much and what does this say about me?’ And we have that same dynamic. And I think in this movie I actually think it plays in a little more sophisticated way.

The split of Li Shang is yet another radical liberty the live-action film is taking from the animated film. In addition to not being a musical, the live-action adaptation will not feature Mushu, the beloved dragon voiced by Eddie Murphy that serves as Mulan's sidekick.