Seven Years Have Passed, the Reason for the Disappearance of One of the 'IRON MAN 3' Actors Revealed

Kapanlagi.com - One of the actors in the film IRON MAN 3 disappeared shortly before filming began, causing his character to be reworked. This MCU film by Shane Black was released in 2013 following THE AVENGERS which had been released a year earlier. This film also marked the final standalone journey for Tony Stark / Iron Man played by Robert Downey Jr.

IRON MAN 3 takes place shortly after the events of the Battle of New York in THE AVENGERS where the Avengers fought against Loki and his Chitauri army. The encounter was exhausting for Tony Stark as he almost died during the battle. The character Tony Stark in IRON MAN 3 struggles with mental illness even though he is physically fine. He is also faced with the threat brought by The Mandarin.

Meanwhile, Tony Stark's new enemy is Dr. Wu, played by Wang Xueqi. The character appears during flashback scenes in IRON MAN 3 at the beginning before reappearing at the end of the film. Although his role was brief, it seems that there was a lot of drama surrounding the character. Initially, there were many considerations in choosing the actor to portray him. First, there was Andy Lau who was considered but canceled due to the birth of his first child. Then Chen Daoming was chosen. As we know, the film IRON MAN 3 was released in a Chinese version and Marvel Studios collaborated with the Chinese entertainment company, DMG Entertainment Motion Picture Group. Former president of DMG Entertainment, Chris Fenton, revealed that shortly after the actor was chosen, he disappeared without a word. This forced them to find a replacement at the last minute, who was not suitable for Marvel Studios. Finally, they found Wang Xueqi. As for Chen, the actor is fine. "It turns out he ran away to New York City. Why?" Once he got the role, Chinese journalists bombarded him with criticism questioning why he took such a small role in an American film," reads a quote from Bleeding Cool cited from Screenrant, Sunday (09/08/2020).

In addition to the trouble caused by the disappearance of Chen, the whole situation was worsened by the fact that Fenton and his crew also pushed to introduce a Chinese doctor in this film. Therefore, someone was also assigned to cast the actor for that part. Initially, they wanted Harley Keeneryang played by Ty Simpkins to become a Chinese child to attract the Chinese market, but Marvel Studios was not interested, so they only agreed to introduce a completely new character for that purpose. Then Fenton revealed that their relationship with Marvel Studios deteriorated afterwards.

Learning from how Fenton and his team worked hard to make Hollywood films appealing to the Chinese market is amazing. Based on some details revealed about their work with Marvel Studios, they are interested in serving the audience who wants to watch Marvel films, considering this is a big market for Hollywood films.

In addition to the above incidents, fake photos of IRON MAN 3 also leaked for the same reason. However, it should not be done through brokers because some people may see them as insulting, causing the audience to miss these films. Hopefully, films like SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RING with more meaningful roles for its Asian cast can prove successful and help drive Marvel and other studios.

Author: Zakiatul Mufaricha

(kpl/mag)