Oscar Isaac's Moon Knight has finally stepped out of the spotlight as Disney+'s first series slated for 2022. However, the series faced controversy when Shang-Chi actor Simu Liu hilariously reacted to Ethan Hawke's Arthur Harrow's Mandarin Dialogue in the series.
In the show's second episode, Hawke's Arthur Harrow had a brief Mandarin dialogue that explores more of his villainous character. Eventually, Liu tweeted his reaction to the dialogue saying "[Harrow] needs to fire his Mandarin teacher," causing a social media firestorm as fans wondered about Liu's intention with his comment.
Fortunately, Simu Liu seemingly puts an end to this controversy.
In a recent interview with British GQ, Shang-Chi and The Legend of Ten Rings star Simu Liu clarified his previous comment about Hawke’s Arthur Harrow Mandarin Dialogue in Moon Knight.
“I think there’s maybe a misconception that Marvel is this kind of monolithic, all-powerful single organism with infinite resources," Liu explained. "I think that it’s easy to allocate the blame to Marvel as a whole. If you really break it down, there was a translator that probably shouldn’t have been a translator. There were probably a couple of people in the decision-making process that should have raised a flag that didn’t. I have full appreciation for the fact that Mandarin is not an easy language. I didn’t want to make it into a big political thing. I just wanted to make fun of it because the sound that came out of that man’s mouth did not resemble Mandarin in any way, shape or form.”
The silver lining in this controversy is that Moon Knight director, Mohamed Diab has previously responded to Liu's comment about the said Mandarin dialogue, saying, "Thank you for pointing that out," and absorbs the comment as a room for improvement. Diab added, "if there is round 2 - we're gonna hear every comment and try to make everyone even more pleased."
Thankfully, Liu clarified that he didn't hate the show itself or Hawke's performance as Arthur Harrow, and he absolutely understands the challenge of learning the Mandarin language after using it in his solo film, Liu only hopes that these cultural representations are accomplished in the right way.
Moon Knight and Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings are available to stream on Disney+.
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