Marvel has had an uncharacteristically tricky summer. After leaving the world with Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home, it was safe to assume that their place at the top of the blockbuster entertainment heap was secure. But roughly a month after the release of their first big-screen release since Spider-Man nearly two years ago, the multi-verse is spiraling out of control. First, Scarlett Johansson sued the powerhouse for simultaneously releasing her first solo outing Black Widow in theaters and on Disney+. Then, weeks later, Disney CEO Bob Chapek referred to the upcoming Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings as an “interesting experiment.” Although Chapek was talking about giving Shang-Chi a 45-day exclusive theatrical release, many, including the film’s star Simu Liu, interpreted his comments as a derogatory remark about the film’s predominantly Asian cast.
Since the news of the lawsuit and Chapek’s comments broke, we’ve heard very little from Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, the ringleader of the MCU. However, at the premiere of Shang-Chi, Feige attempted to put out the fires.
“He is not a shy man,” Feige said about Liu’s tweet. “I think in that particular tweet you can see, and I think everyone does, a misunderstanding. It was not the intention. The proof is in the movie and we swing for the fences as we always do. With the amount of creative energy we put in and the budget, there’s no expense spared to bring this origin story to the screen.”
Over the weekend, Liu tweeted in response to Chapek, “We are not an experiment. We are the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers. We are the celebration of culture and joy that will persevere after an embattled year. We are the surprise. I’m fired the f**k up to make history on September 3rd; JOIN US.”
At this point, Feige is doing damage control, understandably trying to keep attention off of this controversy and on the film he’s releasing. Anyway, Feige’s two-stepping around controversy continued as he said he’s “all for amicable solutions” when it came to the ScarJo suit. Giving a milquetoast soundbite is Feige’s superpower.
[via The Hollywood Reporter]
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