{"id":20370,"date":"2012-06-19T14:24:32","date_gmt":"2012-06-19T06:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinahearsay.com\/?p=13053"},"modified":"2012-06-19T14:24:32","modified_gmt":"2012-06-19T06:24:32","slug":"epic-fail-watch-stan-lee-developing-a-chinese-superhero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/2012\/06\/19\/epic-fail-watch-stan-lee-developing-a-chinese-superhero\/","title":{"rendered":"Epic Fail Watch: Stan Lee Developing a Chinese Superhero"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Without even reading any of the press coverage on this story, I knew this was a loser. Now, I don’t enjoy saying this. I’m a huge Stan Lee fan from the old days; the man basically invented the “human” superhero in the ’60s. I think I’ve read almost every issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, and over the years have gone through spurts of interest in everything from The Avengers to X-Men to the many iterations\/colors of the Incredible Hulk. I wouldn’t go so far to call myself a fanboy, but I’m not a newby either.<\/p>\n

So I could have just wished the project well and instead turned my attentions to a jokey, tongue-in-cheek post about this topic. What superpowers will this Chinese superhero have? Who will be his nemesis? Sidekick(s)? Vulnerabilities? The jokes almost write themselves. (And if you want to read some, try a search for #AnnhilatorSuperpower or follow @relevantorgans — the Twitosphere is going to town on this stuff.)<\/p>\n

Going with Plan C, I’ll stick with some “serious” commentary, you know, since I respect the genre so much. And let me tell you, this latest project of 90-year-old Stan Lee smacks of poor judgment. Let’s have a look at some of the details as outlined in the LA Times<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the\u00a0perfect<\/em>\u00a0Chinese hero,\u201d Lee said Monday. \u201cChina is a nation that is involved with movies and the industry is growing so it\u2019s as though all the pieces are coming together beautifully.\u201d<\/p>\n

The financing piece is off to a good start, certainly, with\u00a0Monday\u2019s news<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cThe Annihilator\u201d tops the\u00a0inaugural\u00a0list of co-productions from National Film Capital, the state-run fund-management company that draws on $422 million raised by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and other partners.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ve already got heartburn. How would Stan Lee know what a perfect Chinese anything is? Aiyah! Moreover, as a foreign investment lawyer, I’m sensitive to stupid foreigners thinking that just because the China market is big, that there are a lot of people here, and that there is a lot of investment capital floating about, that Project X is a sure bet. That’s the oldest China fuck up in the book.<\/p>\n

Stan Lee, and whoever his bad advisers are, looked at all those China-Hollywood deals, took a cursory glance at box office receipts over here, and thought that all they needed was a Chinese superhero to get the RMB flowing. What could go wrong?<\/p>\n

Let’s start counting the ways:<\/p>\n

The plan calls for an\u00a0English-language movie (with the likelihood of some Mandarin-language scenes) with a budget between $100 million-$150 \u00a0million and a Chinese lead for a screen story told with\u00a0considerable\u00a0special\u00a0effects\u00a0and\u00a03-D images.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

First, the name “Annihilator”itself. This is an English-language movie, which I assume will then be subtitled\/dubbed when it is released here. I don’t know what Chinese name this guy is going to have, but if Stan Lee wants to tap into the whole China soft power thing, and keep the government here happy, is “Annihilator” really the image that will go over well in the rest of the world? Shit, a lot of folks in the West already think that the Chinese economy is coming to annihilate them; this just might reinforce that notion.<\/p>\n

Second, a $150 million budget? I understand that you need that for the CGI these days, but that’s still a big nut to crack. I’m starting to get that “Waterworld”vibe going here.<\/p>\n

It gets worse:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be a typical superhero story and movie, just like Spider-Man and Iron Man, but instead of featuring an American hero it\u2019s going to be a Chinese hero,\u201d Lee said. \u201cBut it is not a movie specifically for China. This is a movie for the whole world\u2026”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is Hollyweird industryspeak for a non-niche market flick, one that they want to release worldwide. Obviously with a budget of 150 million, they need it to score big time in the U.S. even though this is a hero for the Chinese audience. And if they make something for China, it better play on nationalism big time or it will fall flat. Think Captain America in a red leotard with gold stars fighting . . . the Japanese? the Mongol Horde? Space aliens? Larry Page and Sergey Brin? That choice is going to be politically difficult, but I’m sure Stan Lee and his team can handle it, given Marvel’s solid history<\/a> with Chinese characters.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the home crowd:<\/p>\n

\u201cReal Steel\u201d screenwriter Dan Gilroy is developing the screenplay and, after the surprising\u00a0critical\u00a0acclaim for that Shawn Levy-directed film, his input may be more relevant than Lee\u2019s presence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No offense to Dan Gilroy, but I’m not sure the writer of the “Freejack” screenplay has what it takes to appeal to your average Chinese national. I don’t see any well-known Chinese writers involved in the project, you know, for even a shred of credibility.<\/p>\n

What does that mean? Obviously we’ll end up with some sort of caricature of what Stan Lee, Dan Gilroy et al<\/em> believe a Chinese superhero should be. From their perspective. This will be cringeworthy, if Hollywood’s other depictions of China, and Asian characters in general, is any indication.<\/p>\n

I think you can read between the lines here:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Annihilator\u201d will tell the story of a young Chinese man forced to leave his hometown in mainland China amid dramatic circumstances. After time in the United States, he returns home in the guise of \u00a0the Annihilator, who uses his extraordinary powers to save the world and also explore his roots.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Heaven forbid that this guy is an Avatarish, “white man savior”-type patronizing lead character. You know, only a Chinese guy who has lived in America has the ability to come back home and save his country. Yeah, that’ll go over well.<\/p>\n

It’s quite possible that if this film is ever released, I will be too embarrassed to watch it. I am, and always will be, a huge Stan Lee fan, but I think the man should figure out how to stop working and retire with dignity. Shame on those folks who continue financing his more ridiculous projects.<\/p>\n

This is not going to end well, and I’m feeling a bit like the guy on weibo<\/em> quoted in the LA Times<\/em> piece, who said:<\/p>\n

I often wonder: America and Japan both have their well-known superheroes, why doesn\u2019t China? I don\u2019t think it is the problem with Chinese people\u2019s creativity. I felt a deep sadness as if I was strangled<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My emphasis. {sigh}<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a9 Stan for China Hearsay<\/a>, 2012. |\nPermalink<\/a> |\n7 comments<\/a> |\nAdd to\ndel.icio.us<\/a>\n\nPost tags: co-production<\/a>, entertainment<\/a>, film<\/a>, Stan Lee<\/a>\n<\/small><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A bunch of old American white guys are going to come up with a superhero that will appeal to the Chinese public. Excelsior!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[213,372,194],"tags":[2158,2274,7811,3771],"class_list":["post-20370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china-news","category-film","category-news-chinese-law","tag-co-production","tag-entertainment","tag-film","tag-stan-lee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinalegalblog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}