Iron Fist Casting Faces Diversity Backlash

Finn Jones, known for his role as Loras Tyrell in the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, has recently been cast to play the lead in Netflix's upcoming series, Iron Fist.

All well and good it would seem, but not many people are in approval of the recent casting, including American New York Times best-selling author and comic writer, Marjorie Liu.

Check out her tweet:

From my understanding, Liu is saying that an Asian actor would have been a better option to play Daniel Rand/Iron Fist since the story of Iron Fist has an oriental/Asian nature. Apparently though, as Movie Pilot has pointed out, Daniel Rand isn't Asian. He's white, although the character doesn't look like it.

Daniel Rand was born in New York City, the son of Wendell Rand, who discovered the mystical city of K'un-L'un as a young boy. During his time in K'un L'un, Wendell saved the life of the city's ruler, Lord Tuan, and was adopted as Tuan's son. However, Wendell eventually left K'un L'un and became a wealthy entrepreneur in the United States. He married socialite Heather Duncan and had a child: Daniel. Wendell later organizes an expedition to again seek out K'un L'un, taking his wife Heather; his business partner Harold Meachum; and nine-year-old Daniel.

The writer also pointed out that Daniel's parents, Wendell and Heather, are both white.

Although facts definitely show Rand's nationality as being Western, I don't necessarily think people are planning on boycotting the show, as it's imposed on the MP article. I think Liu simply thinks it would be better for an Asian actor to play the role.

In recent days there have been increasing tension regarding the issue of diversity, most of which was caused by the Oscars having no African-American nominee. A lot of people have their own opinions and some celebs and directors have taken steps to address the issue. Most recently is Star Wars: The Force Awakens Director J.J. Abrams who issued a memo to his production company, Bad Robot, about placing a "strategic hiring system" to improve diversity in casting.

Personally, I think the quality of a show or movie doesn't necessarily boil down to the cast's ethnicity. I have no problems with the new Iron Fist, but I think I lean more towards Abrams' line of thinking. Hollywood would improve if more ethnicities are given the chance to showcase their talents in the industry, not just actors, but writers, directors, and producers as well.

Hopefully, Finn Jones won't be disappointing fans with his take on Iron Fist. If it's anything like Netflix's Jessica Jones or Daredevil, I've no doubt it will be one of the best comic book TV shows this year.

The 13-part series' Iron Fist will begin production on April 18, and will end sometime in October.