KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings lead actor Simu Liu recently took to Twitter to criticise a scene from Marvel’s latest show on Disney+ Moon Knight.
Moon Knight is a superhero mystery thriller that follows Stephen Grant (played by Oscar Isaac), whose simple life as a gift-shop employee is turned upside down when he is haunted by dreams and memories of another life.
In the second episode of the show, villainous cult leader Arthur Harrow (portrayed by actor Ethan Hawke) speaks Mandarin to one of his followers in, according to Asian fans, unrecognisable Mandarin.
Viewers found the Mandarin so bad that even Liu commented on it on his Twitter after watching the episode.
Alright Arthur Harrow needs to fire his Mandarin teacher
— Simu Liu (刘思慕) (@SimuLiu) April 9, 2022
The scene is followed by the show’s protagonist, Grant asking if Harrow’s followers speak Chinese.
Harrow ironically corrects Grant, saying that his followers speak Mandarin and aspire to master three other languages.
Many viewers commented under Liu’s tweet agreeing with his statements.
In a breakdown video, YouTuber Disney Dwayne said that more attention should have been taken by the actors and directors, he also clarified the dialogue exchanged between Harrow and his follower.
“Common, Marvel, Disney. More care, please, into how you represent.” Dwayne said.
“The way the Mandarin is translated shows that there was not enough care taken because it was like a direct Google translation.”
Despite this small scene annoying fans, ratings have been mostly positive for the show’s first two episodes, each scoring 8/10 on iMDB.
Moon Knight airs new episodes every Wednesday until May 4 on Disney+.
