‘Shang-Chi’ Star Simu Liu Condemns ‘SNL’ Cast Member Shane Gillis Over Racist Remarks

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Shang-Chi star Simu Liu is calling out SNL’s Shane Gillis for making racist remarks directed at people of Asian descent.

Simu Liu, who is Canadian with Chinese heritage, has called out SNL actor Shane Gillis’ use of racial slurs in a podcast where he mocked Asian-American citizens in New York’s Chinatown. Shane Gillis has also made several derogatory remarks about women, the LGBT community, and Muslims, which he defended as edgy comedy.

While Shane Gillis has defended his remarks, Simu Liu is not having any of it. Taking to Twitter, Simu Liu explained that the racial slur that Shane Gillis used has had a long-standing history of suppressing Asian people in the Western world, and he is hopeful that NBC will take action soon. You can view his remarks about the SNL controversy, which features one political cartoon showcasing racism, below:

Perhaps appropriately, it’s been stated that Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi movie will update the character in a way that reworks some questionable elements associated with the hero’s backstory, even though Marvel did not create the character to be offensive. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will likely take influence from recent runs, which have Shang-Chi as more of a secret agent as opposed to the archetypal kung-fu movie protagonist.

In the comics, Shang-Chi is a skilled martial artist who was raised and trained by his father, who he soon learns is a Chinese crime lord and immortal sorcerer who repeatedly attempted to conquer the world, in an isolated compound located in China. When Shang-Chi was finally allowed to venture into the outside world in order to do his father’s bidding, he learned about his father’s evil ways and faked his own death before embarking on a mission to take down his father’s criminal empire.

Introduced in Special Marvel Edition #15 in December 197, Shang-Chi will reportedly modernize the source material in order to avoid the character stereotypes of the time. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film will star Simu Liu, Awkwafina and Tony Leung.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings opens in theaters on February 12, 2021.

Source: Simu Liu