Who should play Shang-Chi and the other characters?

[Dark Raven]

Lol, you’ve made it abundantly clear that Rain Bi is your top pick. Personally, I’m still Team Godfrey Gao.

It's not clear enough.

 

[Exile1973]

Lol, you’ve made it abundantly clear that Rain Bi is your top pick. Personally, I’m still Team Godfrey Gao.

I see who you are talking about but he does not have a presence enough to make him signature to a specific role. He lacks identity he is more model than actor. Rain has presence in his roles even if the script is bad. He has his own style and swagger. It is more than just looking the part to lead.

 

[Exile1973]

Way too cheesy look at Ninja Assassin with Rain Bi or the fight sequences on Youtube. Trust me he is the best natural martial artist and actor to play Shang Chi.

 

[THORin]

Way too cheesy look at Ninja Assassin with Rain Bi or the fight sequences on Youtube. Trust me he is the best natural martial artist and actor to play Shang Chi.View attachment 25777

The “best” natural martial-artist. Really...

And Gao is cheesy - how exactly?

 

[Dark Raven]

The “best” natural martial-artist. Really...

And Gao is cheesy how exactly?

He's more natural than any other martial artist who ever lived. Bruce Lee was a bit mechanical.

 

[Silvermoth]

Way too cheesy look at Ninja Assassin with Rain Bi or the fight sequences on Youtube. Trust me he is the best natural martial artist and actor to play Shang Chi.View attachment 25777

Might be tricky to cast a korean actor for a chinese role. The whole region has a complicated relationship with each other.

It’s interesting though because I think there’s so much potential for marvel to explore with Korea one day. I reckon a korean mainstream hero will happen really soon and people will love them. There’s a few interesting candidates already

 

[GN Gotham]

Looks-wise Godfrey Gao is the perfect guy, imo. He is my #1 pick. He is of Chinese/Taiwanese descent, tall, does Taekwondo. He did great in City of Bones and he has a new movie coming up this year in China. Marvel should really just cast Gao.

Lewis Tan & Alex Landi are also great options, though Landi is Korean-American. I can also see Daniel Wu as another option.

 

[Silvermoth]

Yeah Godfrey Gao has a ton of charisma

 

[eon001]

Me too. I'm all for Lin now

I am on the Ludi Lin bandwagon. He seems to fit all the criteria, and is in the mold of other actors Marvel has tapped for their leads. He also wants the role.

I'm Asian American and personally I am rooting for the the local guys. My first choice has already been mentioned a lot, and that's Ludi Lin. I think he would be great for the role as he's kind of tall, good looking, and I found him pretty charismatic in the Power Rangers movie. Besides the action I think he can make Shang Chi a likable character if they let him do his thing.

But again, if Marvel's main goal is to appeal to the Chinese market then they should cast a mainland actor. But I hope that's not the case.

Ha, that would make a fun hashtag. #InForLin

I am also on the lin train. Not only is he good looking and has experience with blockbusters but he also seems like a nice guy and an easy guy to work with

I hope there's room on the #InForLin band wagon. I was on the fence about him but after the last season of Black Mirror I'm all in. He's got the right look, he's the right age, he has a following but isn't TOO big to out shine the role. Certainly has geek cred.

I just hope they hire the right choreographers and stunt team. Give the Into the Bandlands stunt team some work now that the show is cancelled.

 

[SyntaxError]

My first choice would be a mainland Chinese actor. Think there is tons of talent that they can find there. If not, then at least have some big mainland names feature as prominent supporting characters.

If not a mainland Chinese actor then Ludi Lin has grown on me. I’ve liked what I’ve seen for him. Not too impressed by the other names mentioned though.

 

[p4poetic]

I am on the Ludi Lin bandwagon. He seems to fit all the criteria, and is in the mold of other actors Marvel has tapped for their leads. He also wants the role.

I’m also Team Lin.

 

[THORin]

Lin just looks way too...I don’t know what the right word would be: he’s got nothing charismatic about his look. And, I mean, I’ve never seen Power Rangers but is he even a good actor? He made no impression on me in Aquaman.

 

[Rice Eater]

Lin just looks way too...I don’t know what the right word would be: he’s got nothing charismatic about his look. And, I mean, I’ve never seen Power Rangers but is he even a good actor? He made no impression on me in Aquaman.

Those of us who are advocating for him(including me) did see Power Rangers and we liked him in it. He was able to show some range in that movie as he was a wise cracker around the other rangers but also had to take care of his bed ridden sick mother.

His portfolio is very small but I like what I've seen so far and think he's the total package. But the portfolio for every Asian American actor is tiny so we just have to give one of these guys a shot. The sad reality is that none of them are ever going to land many if any leading roles outside of these kind of movies that are made with a Asian lead to begin with.

 

[THORin]

Those of us who are advocating for him(including me) did see Power Rangers and we liked him in it. He was able to show some range in that movie as he was a wise cracker around the other rangers but also had to take care of his bed ridden sick mother.

His portfolio is very small but I like what I've seen so far and think he's the total package. But the portfolio for every Asian American actor is tiny so we just have to give one of these guys a shot. The sad reality is that none of them are ever going to land many if any leading roles outside of these kind of movies that are made with a Asian lead to begin with.

Well, I can certainly agree with those sentiments.

 

[MbJ]

As long as they don't get someone who is Finn Jones levels of bad at fighting, they should be okay.

I kid. As much as I rag on Jones, the terrible fight scenes in Iron Fist also seemed like the cheapness and a failure on the filming and choreography level as much, if not more than it was about the actor not being able to throw a punch. Marvel needs to make sure they get a great stunt team on this.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I'll say this about Lin... The moments in Power Rangers when he's at home taking care of the mom are actually really affecting. Much better than the "I'm the guy that puts up a too cool for school front to cover up my sadness" thing he had the rest of the time.

Donnie for Shang's dad though should 100% happen.

 

[Silvermoth]

I reckon Lin would really impress people

 

[chamber-music]

Lin just looks way too...I don’t know what the right word would be: he’s got nothing charismatic about his look. And, I mean, I’ve never seen Power Rangers but is he even a good actor? He made no impression on me in Aquaman.

His character Murk in Aquaman was played for laughs as a throw away henchman in a short portion of the film. Not really the kind of role that is made for making a big impression.

 

[jolldan]

I like Mike Moh for Shang Chi.

 

[Boom]

Have we discussed Ki Hong Lee?

 

[eon001]

Lin just looks way too...I don’t know what the right word would be: he’s got nothing charismatic about his look. And, I mean, I’ve never seen Power Rangers but is he even a good actor? He made no impression on me in Aquaman.

I might have agreed with you but I would urge you to watch the latest season of Black Mirror if you doubt Ludi. Not saying it will change your mind but you see a bit more of his range.

I personally feel he'll land the role off the back of the Black Mirror publicity.

Report: Lin and Butler May Be on Marvel's Shortlist For Shang-Chi

 

[eon001]

As long as they don't get someone who is Finn Jones levels of bad at fighting, they should be okay.

I kid. As much as I rag on Jones, the terrible fight scenes in Iron Fist also seemed like the cheapness and a failure on the filming and choreography level as much, if not more than it was about the actor not being able to throw a punch. Marvel needs to make sure they get a great stunt team on this.

Yea I've been a fan of martial arts movies for decades and one thing I've learned is filming/editing and choreography is more important than the actors ability to move. If you look at Into the Badlands, half of the cast had no martial arts backgrounds, but the directors were able to shoot exceptional fight scenes.

I've also seen the opposite, with phenomenal martial artist on screen, but the fight scenes were so poorly shot and edited, it made the lead look slow and awkward.

Key thing is to get a good choreographer and give the actor plenty of time to prepare. The Matrix also proved this decades ago.

 

[eon001]

I like Mike Moh for Shang Chi.

Oh snap, how could I forget Moh!? Man You've just put my Ludi Lin band wagon into a screeching halt.

I was going to say that Lin has youth on his side, but he's only 4 years younger than Moh. (I assumed Lin was in his 20's)

Also Moh is a legit martial artist with the credits to prove.

That being said Moh or Lin, I'll be happy with both.

 

[THORin]

I might have agreed with you but I would urge you to watch the latest season of Black Mirror if you doubt Ludi. Not saying it will change your mind but you see a bit more of his range.

I personally feel he'll land the role off the back of the Black Mirror publicity.

Report: Lin and Butler May Be on Marvel's Shortlist For Shang-Chi

Hmm, I did watch Black Mirror. I hadn’t realized that was Lin until afterward, but I gotta say I was not impressed by that performance: though, I also just didn’t like that episode in general, so maybe it was that. I mean, he was good - but I didn’t sense anything more than that. But you’re right, he definitely showed a lot more range (and a lot more...of himself ) than in Aquaman. Much more.

Either way, I don’t want to come off like I’ve got some grudge against Lin or anything. I’m just not sold on the idea yet: maybe, if he is chosen for the role, he’ll be great.

Now the Mike Moh idea is an intriguing one: I like that.

 

[TheUnknownX]

Would love to see Mike Moh as Shang Chi so I can forget his role as Handsome Squidward on Inhumans.