Lewis Tan Wanted To Be ‘Iron Fist’, Not The Villain

Lewis Tan

To many actors, landing the role of a big bad in a huge franchise such as Marvel’s would be good enough, but not Lewis Tan. The actor and martial artist is happy with his role in Marvel’s Iron Fist, but he really wanted the title role.

Tan’s not the only person who’s expressed his desire for an Asian actor to take on the role of Iron Fist, especially since the character’s origin is based so deeply in Asian culture. Rightfully, Tan’s been advocating for Asian actors to get the main roles in projects for a long time now, explaining that typically they get the role of a computer geek or a ninja. He’s not wrong. Here’s what Tan said in a recent interview with His Style Diary.

“The thing is, I want to be the lead, the hero, the love interest character,” Tan said. “I know kung fu, I’ve been doing martial arts for 15 years, and I love it. But I think there are these expectations. These are the roles they are comfortable with Asians doing. They aren’t comfortable in seeing you in lead roles– the ones I want.”

The role of Danny Rand, otherwise known as Iron Fist, obviously went to Game of Thrones actor Finn Jones – who just unveiled the first trailer for the show at New York Comic Con. Jones then brought the co-stars of The Defenders on stage with him, where it was announced that none other than Sigourney Weaver will be the villain in the mini-series!

Iron Fist lands on Netflix on March 17, 2017.

Adam Fitch

Adam Fitch

An English bloke with love for all things comics.