New ‘Mulan’ Film Will Be Far From the Original and Twitter is Not Happy

Why it matters: The original “Mulan” was released in 1998 and featured a star-studded cast of Asian American actors, including Ming-Na Wen, B.D. Wong, James Hong, Pat Morita, and George Takei. The films follows Mulan, who defies her father by disguising herself as a man and fighting in the Chinese army against the Huns. She is watched over by a dragon named Mushu and a cricket named Cri-Kee.

In the new synopsis for the live-action remake, Donnie Yen plays Mulan’s mentor, Commander Tung, and Gong Li plays a powerful witch who is the main villain. This is far different from the original, where the main antagonist is Shan Yu, leader of the invading Huns.

The issue: Despite the excitement for the upcoming film set for release in 2020, fans are unhappy that the synosis deviates from the original classic people fell in love with. In addition, the only main stars announced so far are from Asia — no notable Asian American actors have been announced at the moment.

Netizens weighed in:

Featured Images via Wikimedia Commons / (Left): Cecilia Wang (CC BY 4.0) | (Center): Georges Biard (CC BY-SA 3.0) | (Right): Gavatron