Update on "The Weapon" and the author of the original comic
A member of the staff of racebending.com was able to get in touch with the author of the original comic, "The Weapon," Fred VanLente.
Mr. VanLente informed us that he learned of the casting the same way we did--through the newswire. Since he was not in the loop, he can't really shed additional light on why Italian American Disney Channel actor David Henrie was cast to play Asian American superhero Tommy Zhou in the film adaptation of "The Weapon."
This kind response was not entirely unexpected, given NDAs involved in the signing of movie deals, and creators of non-film properties having little involvement in casting and production of a feature film. We've seen it before with The Last Airbender.
Fred VanLente is creator of The Weapon and also had a very successful run on Marvel's Incredible Hercules, which also featured an Asian American superhero, Amadeus Cho (aka Mastermind Excello.) Amadeus's character was created by writer Greg Pak and artist Takeshi Miyazawa; he is a teen super-genius on the lam with his pet coyote and vespa scooter. It was really only after VanLente and Pak collaborated together on Incredible Herculues that his character began to shine--he was the costar of the series, and as an "incorrigble teen genius," a great foil to the "lion of Olympus."
(Yeah, in case you didn't know, one of the best Marvel series out right now features an Asian American super hero, who isn't a sexpot, as the co-star. ^_^ Let's just hope that if they ever make an Amadeus Cho movie, they don't racebend him as well.)
Platinum Studio's offices are located in Los Angeles on Olympic Blvd. just a few of blocks from where I (and several other UCLA students) live. I am currently trying to figure out if it would be possible to arrange some sort of protest. If you guys are interested, I will also try and draft up a letter and get you the contact info on who to write to about this. I know our focus is on The Last Airbender, but the train has yet to leave the station on this one--maybe we stand a better chance here.
Thanks!
P.S. The kicker is that Platinum Studios claims that one of its company principles is "social responsibility". Since when was denying minority actors job opportunities socially responsible?
Mr. VanLente informed us that he learned of the casting the same way we did--through the newswire. Since he was not in the loop, he can't really shed additional light on why Italian American Disney Channel actor David Henrie was cast to play Asian American superhero Tommy Zhou in the film adaptation of "The Weapon."
This kind response was not entirely unexpected, given NDAs involved in the signing of movie deals, and creators of non-film properties having little involvement in casting and production of a feature film. We've seen it before with The Last Airbender.
Fred VanLente is creator of The Weapon and also had a very successful run on Marvel's Incredible Hercules, which also featured an Asian American superhero, Amadeus Cho (aka Mastermind Excello.) Amadeus's character was created by writer Greg Pak and artist Takeshi Miyazawa; he is a teen super-genius on the lam with his pet coyote and vespa scooter. It was really only after VanLente and Pak collaborated together on Incredible Herculues that his character began to shine--he was the costar of the series, and as an "incorrigble teen genius," a great foil to the "lion of Olympus."
(Yeah, in case you didn't know, one of the best Marvel series out right now features an Asian American super hero, who isn't a sexpot, as the co-star. ^_^ Let's just hope that if they ever make an Amadeus Cho movie, they don't racebend him as well.)
Platinum Studio's offices are located in Los Angeles on Olympic Blvd. just a few of blocks from where I (and several other UCLA students) live. I am currently trying to figure out if it would be possible to arrange some sort of protest. If you guys are interested, I will also try and draft up a letter and get you the contact info on who to write to about this. I know our focus is on The Last Airbender, but the train has yet to leave the station on this one--maybe we stand a better chance here.
Thanks!
P.S. The kicker is that Platinum Studios claims that one of its company principles is "social responsibility". Since when was denying minority actors job opportunities socially responsible?