[TheBlueMarvel]

@Von

This Iron Fist convo is interesting and ties into elements of our discussion from a week ago. The owner of my LCS clued me into Marvel's trepidation over Danny a few months back. As he described it, Marvel is afraid of going all-in on Iron Fist for fear of offending Asian sensibilities (most notably, ticket sales in China). The source of the offense being similar to some of the sour taste developed behind the "American Ninja" (children of the 80's might be more familiar with this reference - 'The Last Samurai' might be a better analogy) phenomenon, wherein a blonde-blued-eyed Western protagonist is used to highlight (master) aspects of an Eastern culture. I get it, and agree that it's a miscast opportunity (as you mentioned), but I also think there is value in embracing canon...blemishes and all.

Oddly, this scenario reminds me of Hudlin's run on Panther, albeit a bit of writing that I found to be poignant and hilarious. There's a panel where Luke is chatting with Panther and the Master of Kung-Fu is brought up. Luke relates that he doesn't know who Shang-Chi is and T'challa openly questions how it's possible that in his long friendship with Danny, the "Master of Kung-fu" was never brought up. They drop the conversation, but the moment was definitely intended to be an awkward one. LOL

In any event, I believe that poorly conceived contemporary solutions for past slights (perceived or otherwise) can lead to a deepening of the quagmire. Immortal Iron Fist handled the sketchy nature of Danny's mantle of "Iron Fist" pretty well (IMO). Danny was treated as an outsider and had to work very hard at becoming accepted in Kunlun. I agree that changing portions of a character's ethos for MCU purposes is no real dealbreaker, especially now that we've had to accept all sorts of changes. My solution, as you might know, is play up Shang-Chi! As much as I love Danny, I love Shang-Chi that much more!

...also, the "white hero as a champion of an Asian cultural subset," may not be the only reason for hesitation. It might be China's (representative of the largest foreign consumer market) tense relationship with Tibet. It could also be the impetus for the changes to the MCU's "Ancient One."