Racebending.com

Three years later, Platinum Studios is reintroducing one of their projects, The Weapon. The studio released a press release this morning describing the film:

“The Weapon” is about a martial arts enthusiast, Tommy Zhou, that has discovered a means to create solid objects from light — and invented a superhero persona to promote it, The Weapon! Not believing the legends his grandfather told him as a child, Zhou’s inventions unsuspectingly make him the target of a millennia-old assassin cult that’s convinced he’s unlocked the ancient mystical techniques of the Order of Wu-Shi-’The Way of the Weapon.’” source

Way back in 2009, Platinum Studios announced the development of a feature film, The Weapon, based on their comic book miniseries written by Fred VanLente. Disney Channel star David Henrie was cast to play the lead character, Tommy Zhou. In the comic book, Zhou is a Chinese American from Hawaii who, over the course of his adventures, learns to accept his Asian American roots.

This was a clear case of “whitewashing,” so Racebending.com mobilized and The Weapon became the second project we protested. Platinum Studios received hundreds of emails from angry members and allies of the Asian American community, and one of the film’s producers spoke with representatives from the community, including Racebending.com and the Media Action Network for Asian Americans. Then, nothing. No news for three years.

Since 2009, Platinum Studios has produced another film adaptaion of one of their Fred VanLente comics, Cowboys and Aliens. Today, on January 31st, 2012, Platinum Studios again announced The Weapon. No mention of David Henrie in this new press release, but it does look like they are trying to get the film made again. Will they again plan to go with a white actor to play Tommy Zhou? Or is this finally an opportunity for an Asian American to star?

Categories: blog, The Weapon