Earlier this week my wife shared with me an article about the sensitive issues surrounding the casting of Danny Rand, Iron Fist in the upcoming Netflix series of the same name. In the article, written by Kwame Opam and posted on theverge.com, the author points out how, in his current depiction, the character is a white male whose behavior is steeped in Asian tradition. Although it is a mix of Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Tibetan and several other Asian cultures, the author points out how it can be viewed as appropriative. Especially with the way Marvel has been working towards showing more diversity in the cinematic and comic universes, this could be a touchy subject.

I discussed this at length with my wife and a couple of friends and I discovered something about myself. Although I am the first to be on board when it comes down to mixing things up a bit with established characters, I had a little bit of an issue with changing Danny’s race. I had to stop and think about “why”. I mean, his race is not central to the story. It’s not like he was the first white Iron Fist. His being viewed as an outsider of K’un Lun, the world that he lived in as a child, was because he was not born there, not because of his race. I thought long and hard and talked myself through the reason for my issue with changing his race and I could not find one. So, major Iron Fist fan that I am, had to talk myself back from the edge and realize that I was guilty of the same thing that I hear from so many fanboys.

Having finished that discussion, I thought of the other point that the writer made. If he was cast as Asian, then that could be construed as racist. And I can see his point. What is Marvel to do? Mind you, I’m not the most sensitive when it comes to issues of race. I identify as Geek, that is my race and Geeks are my people. Even now when I talk to my mom and I’m talking about someone I’ve interviewed or hung out with, she’ll ask their race. I have to remind myself that it is a generational thing, that that is part of how so many people relate to others. Some of my friends suggest going biracial in casting him, and I can see that being the safest route. I do believe that we will be hearing an answer soon and, for all I know, we may all be surprised by the decision. But, I do hope that this serves as a doorway to being able to discuss racial issues with civility and understanding. If it takes a Marvel super hero to get us there, so be it!