To Marvel: Where Is The Other Half Of The World?

With Black Panther's cinematic success, maybe it's time for Marvel to consider an even wider representation of POCs - by including Asians.

Marvel's brand-new Black Panther movie has already broken records, and has been predicted to become one of Marvel's most successful movies. The movie has gained worldwide recognition and praise for its all-star African American cast and beautifully rendered depictions of African culture. With this smashing success in its first POC superhero lead, isn't it about time for Marvel to consider an Asian lead?

You might argue that have been numerous Asian characters - Ned from Spiderman: Homecoming, Mantis from Guardians of the Galaxy, Dr Helen Cho from Avengers: Age of Ultron. But there are deeply rooted problems in each of these portrayals of Asians.

1. Ned

In Spiderman: Homecoming, Ned is a sidekick to Peter Parker - the atypical white, apparently heterosexual, awkwardly adorable superhero. The Asian-nerd stereotype has existed for long before this franchise - but this movie, right off the bat, reduced Ned to yet another stereotypical embodiment of pure Asian-ness. Nerdy, awkward, and slightly undesirable, Ned literally sat in front of a laptop as the white superhero went off to kick-ass. It almost seemed like a sad attempt to appease the Asian market. Here, an Asian that spends more than thirty seconds on-screen! Ned was simply another let-down, yet another reinforcement of the idea that all Asians are good for is to sit back and stare with an open mouth and make vulgar porn jokes and cover for the goody-goody, all-round amazing white superhero.

Spider-Man: Homecoming.

2. Mantis

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 was a hit, no doubt. But Mantis - virtually one of the only Asians to appear in the movie - was yet another reinforcement of Asian stereotypes. Mantis was developed to become yet another submissive, silent, docile Asian woman, compared to her fierce character in the comics.

Mantis in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2

3. Dr. Helen Cho

While only a small side-character, Dr Helen Cho manages to be an utterly disappointing embodiment of not one, but two Asian stereotypes. Her on-screen time is dominated by a spout of technical terms, and then proceeds to be mind-controlled by a villain to become a typical obedient Asian servant. Truly an admirable representation, considering Dr. Cho is the only Asian that appears at all within the two-hour Avengers movie.

Dr Helen Cho in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

4. The Ancient One

This one is rather a lack thereof. The Ancient One, as featured in the comics, is supposed to be a Tibetan man - instead, Marvel chose to whitewash the character by casting Tilda Swinton. Of course there couldn't be an Asian in a position of power greater than that of a white man's. Of course there couldn't be an Asian man with something of value to teach to a white man. Of course there couldn't be one movie in which a white man has to learn from an Asian. Of course.

Tilda Swinton in Doctor Strange.

It is not good enough, Marvel, to try and appease an entire race of people by throwing one of us on screen without killing them off within two seconds. It is not good enough for the thousands of Asian children out there that want a superhero too. It is not good enough when we show up at the cinema to become excited when an Asian character will supposedly be featured for more than five minutes, just to be let down yet again when they turn out to be like every other Asian character in the past.

None of this, as might be argued, is due to a lack of Asian superheroes in the Marvel comic universe. There are over hundreds of them. There isn't a problem in financial incentive - the Chinese market alone has been identified as the main driver of box office expansion. There isn't a problem in the lack of Asian actors or directors. As an example, Marvel was praised when Doctor Strange featured Wong, an Asian - albeit still a sidekick - as a leading force within the drive of the plot.

Wong from Doctor Strange. / Via Marvel

But it should be mentioned that this is not just Marvel's problem. This issue sheds light onto an even wider problem of Asian representation with any media - where are the Asian models, actors, directors? It hurts that in the twenty-first century, I struggle to find representations of people of my race. It hurts that I am surprised when a movie can accurately represent Asian culture or the true beauty and diversity of Asians. It hurts that when I grew up, I never had a superhero of my race to look up to. And I do not want this subtle, yet toxic and heartbreaking racism to continue.

So I urge studios, producers, and casting directors to answer this question - why do you disregard our half of the world?