Filipina American debuts in 'Star Trek; Picard' in pivotal role

Jean Luc Picard meets the mysterioius Dahj, played by Isa Briones.

The big reveal that Marvel picked Simu Liu to play Shang-Chi, wasn't the only news coming out of ComicCon last week that AAPI fans should be excited about.

Last Spring, when it was announced that Isa Briones would be cast in CBS-All Access' Star Trek: Picard, we didn't know what kind of role she would play. It could have been one of the crew members who always linger in the background or a Red-Shirt but after seeing the trailer for the new show, it turns out that the Filipina American's role is a pretty significant one.

We still don't know what her relationship is with Jean Luc Picard, a role from Star Trek: Next Generation reprised by Sir Patrick Stewart, but it appears she's the McGuffin, the instigator, the one who gets the story going, the reason Picard is going to give up his retirement at Chateau Picard. Her character, Dahj, apparently needs to be protected and she found Picard, someone she's had history with and who she could trust.

So, who is Dahj? A lot of interesting theories have arisen among Trekkers about the identity of Dahj: from being the daughter of Data (the android who gave up his existence to save Picard) to being a reincarnation of the Borg Queen.

In the first trailer debuted at ComicCon, she shows up at Picard's idyllic vineyard 20 years after he retired from Star Fleet.

“Everything inside of me says that I’m safe with you,” she tells him.

Before he can answer her, the camera cuts away leaving fans with questions.

Later on in the trailer, she shows she has some serious (superhuman?) fighting skills as she effortlessly takes out a group of attackers while Picard watches on.

Picard quickly grasps the significance of helping this young woman and is well aware of the dangers she faces if she is captured by the wrong people.

Picard calls on Starfleet for its help but he’s ignored. “If she is who I think she is, she’s in serious danger,” he warns someone.

The mysterious Dahj is a major player. I wonder if she speaks Tagalog?

The director of the upcoming The Eternals, Chloe Zhao, has assembled a powerful and diverse cast to star in the Marvel flick about a race with superhuman powers. The brightest star to join the Marvel universe is Angelina Jolie. The film, set to debut in Nov. of 2020, will also star a buffed up Kumail Nanjiani as one of the 3,500-years -old Eternals.

Unfortunately, Warner Bros, the studio that drew raves in past ComicCons was missing this year! So we didn't get to see anything the new Wonderwoman 1984, Aquaman 2 or The Birds of Prey, the latter of which will introduce Cassandra Cain, AKA Batgirl, played by Filipina American Ella Jay Basco.

Agents of SHIELD included Chloe Bennett, middle and Ming-Na Wen, right,

It was an emotional farewell to Agents of SHIELD which is currently filming the finale for its final season. Chloe Bennett and Ming-Na Wen, who play bad-ass agents, proved you can have more than one Asian American in a cast, a rarity when the show debuted seven years ago. 

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Disney sees Ming-Na Wen as a 'Legend'

MING-NA WEN

ASAM NEWS

Ming-Na Wen has joined a select group of actors named a Disney Legend by the global brand.

With the addition of Wen and 10 others, there are now 300 people on the distinguished list. Wen received the honor for her role as Mulan in the original 1998 animated classic. She’s also received recognition for her role as Melinda May in Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as for her appearances on XD’s Guardians of the Galaxy as Phyla-Vell and in Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors as the movie’s villain, Hala, reported Comic Beat.

"I freaked and cried my eyes out when I got the news," tweeted Wen. "Im a DISNEY LEGEND!!!! Wow!"

” The Disney Legends Award is the highest honor we can bestow; it’s a recognition of talent, a celebration of achievement, and an expression of profound gratitude to the remarkable men and women who have made an indelible mark on our company and our creative legacy,” said Bob Iger, Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said to Slashfilm. “This year’s honorees have earned a place in our hearts and our history for their significant contributions in film, television, and our theme parks around the world.”

Disney also bestowed the honor this year to Wing Chao, a former Disney Imagineer who helped with the company’s amusement park expansion to China and Hong Kong, according to Wikipedia.

Others who will receive the distinction as a Legend, include Robert Downey Jr. and Bette Midler, along with such luminaries as Wing Chao, Jon Favreau, James Earl Jones, Kenny Ortega, Barnette Ricci, Robin Roberts, Diane Sawyer and Hans Zimmer

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Netflix apologizes and corrects credit slight to Mulan voice actress

COMICBOOK.COM

Ming-Na Wen provided the voice for the animated version of Mulan.

NETFLIX corrected its oversight when it didn't give credit to the Asian Americans who provided voices to the animated version of Mulan, including Ming-Na Wen, who gave the voice to the lead character.

A day after Ming-Na Wen called on Mulan fans to complain to Netflix for its mistake, the streaming service responded with this:

The gross mistake was first noticed by Twitter user Dave Sanchez, or @kroqkom, after watching the Disney classic on Netflix.

Netflix only gave voice credit to Miguel Ferrer (Shan-Yu), Harvey Fierstein (Yao) and June Foray (Grandmother Fa) as the main cast in its summary of the film. Sanchez tweeted out a screen capture of Netflix's summary  demanded the streaming service give credit to the leading actress of the film. 

Ming-Na Wen saw his Tweet and noted that BD Wong, who voiced Mulan's love interest, was also not credited. In fact, the streaming service failed to credit any actor of color. She urged fans of the 1998 film to complain to Netflix.

Now if you click on Mulan on Netflix Ming Na We  it has corrected its oversight and more. It credits the film's main cast Ming-Na Wen, BD Wong and Eddie Murphy, who gave voice to Mushu the dragon. Netflix also gave credit to George Takei, even though he voiced a minor character First Ancestor.

Ming-Na Wen can be seen on her regular gig on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as bad-ass Melinda May.  The Marvel series' 6th season will premiere this summer and has already been approved for its 7th season.

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Marvel Rising: superheroes of color in feature film next year

ASAM NEWS

MARVEL COMICS has unveiled its new multi-platform offering, Marvel Rising: Secret Warrior and it’s going to feature quite a diverse cast.

The featured length animated film includes a number of prominent Asian/Americans already part of the Marvel universe. Chloe Bennet will voice Quake, the S.H.I.E.L.D operative and inhuman from ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Bennet’s S.H.I.E.L.D. castmate, Ming Na Wen, will play the villain, Hala. Kathreen Khavari will return as Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, Marvel’s first Muslim hero.

“To have this brown girl who’s a Muslim, who’s a superhero, who doesn’t fall under these stereotypes … [and] is just a good, decent human being who wants to bring that out in other people — I feel really fortunate to be able to portray her,” Khavari told BuzzFeed.

Sana Amanat of Marvel

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Among the champions leading the project is Marvel’s director of content and character development, the New Jersey-born Pakistani/American, Sana Amanat.

“It came out of a desire to be able to tell stories about characters that we think are the next great heroes of the Marvel Universe,” she said.

AV Club reports the plan is to launch the project with a few shorts before diving into the full length feature. The cast will showcase much of Marvel’s younger characters and a strong women cast.

“It’s all stuff you can connect with and feel like, these heroes are a lot like me,” Cort Lane, executive producer on the project, said to ABC News.

Watch for Marvel Rising: Secret Warrior in 2018.

It's completely amazing to see that the world of comics, so often derided as a form of literature, is coming into its own and that the industry is doing what it can to reshape pop culture, especially in the impressionable minds of its readers.

The more young people see characters of color, even in comic form, represented in all forms of media, the more accepting our society will be of people who are different from what was considered -- up to this point -- the norm as defined by the dominant culture. The new normal includes people -- as well as fictional characters -- of color.

(Views From the Edge contributed to this post.)

Kamala Khan will provide the voice for Ms. Marvel.

Chloe Bennett will provide the voice for Quake.

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Ming-Na Wen, the original Mulan, seeks role in live-action movie Mulan

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Ming-Na Wen doing voice work for the character Mulan.

THE 1998 ANIMATED version of Mulan was voiced by actress Ming-Na Wen, probably best known for her role in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
As the original Mulan, it's natural that she has a sense of ownership for the character.

Wen, who at age 53 continues to voice the role of Mulan on Disney Channel's Sofia the First and the Disney Infinity video games, dished that she is already having "conversations" about having some kind of role in the film.

“I’m hoping," she said at a recent comicbook convention. "I mean, I’ve spoken to one of the producers on the film, and they’re still in the very early stages of it. So, we’re keeping an eye on it, and hopefully, yeah, It would be lovely too, I think, for the fans as well as for myself, right?”

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Fresh Off the Boat introduces Asian Flush

NBA star Jeremy Lin shows off his Asian Flush centered on his abs on Fresh Off the Boat.

BY NOW, you've seen or heard about the Asian Flush episode of Fresh Off the Boat. Asian Flush is a little known phenomenon that afflicts some Asians when they imbibe a bit too much.

Last week, on Episode 17 of the ABC hit, No. 1 son Eddie Huang and his friends get hold of a beer and Eddie takes a sip. He discovers he suffers from an adverse reaction to alcohol, known as the "Asian Flush," his heart beats faster, his face turns red and his body gets warm. 

His father Louis (Randall Park) takes the opportunity to share how he finally learned to deal with the condition in different situations, and how great it was to drink with his similarly afflicted Chinese college friends Chau (guest star Jeremy Lin), Stephanie (guest star Ming-Na Wen), and Margot (guest star Ali Wong). 

One of the writers, Keith Heisler, writes in EW.com  about the genesis of the skit.

"I knew about Asian flush since I had a roommate in college who had it and my wife gets it too. It’s kind of this weird thing where it’s there, and some people have it and hide it, so let’s just do something that isn’t talked about. We can get away with explaining it, and if it’s not boring, then people are like, “Oh, I didn’t even know this was a thing.” That was what intrigued us about it. 

"When our show works well, it tells something that everyone can relate to, it doesn’t matter what race they are. We’ve all gone through something similar, but here’s how it’s specific to our family or to the Asian culture. Whenever we do that is when it’s most fun for the writers and the actors to do because it’s so specific to our show. We take a lot of pride in that this is a story that only we can do. This is one of those weird little pockets that most people in America don’t know about Asian culture. You need to have fun with it, but hopefully, we did it in a way people enjoy and relate to." 

Congrats to the FOtB crew and cast for treating the topic not with kid gloves but as a fact of life.

Asian Flush is real - there's a scientific reason it occurs because some Asian/A can't process alcohol and their bodies react to alcohol as if it was allergic to it. Nothing to be ashamed of. It happens. As Louis tells his son - without lecturing - learn to deal with it.

That's the beauty of having a TV show about an Asian/American family. It exposes non-Asian Americans to some of the particularities of being Asian that they might not have know about. It helps break down stereotypes and makes us  ... well, more human.