Stan Lee was known to have a creative mind, especially in producing unique characteristics of every superhero. Marvel's former editor-in-chief and co-creator of superheroes like Iron Man, Spiderman, Hulk, X-men, and more, died on Monday at the age of 95, but his legacy will always remain. Lee gave his best to create diverse kinds of superheroes, and some of them were Asians.
Here are the three notable Marvel Asian Superheroes during Lee's era at the comic company, according to the South China Morning Post.
Jimmy Woo
James "Jimmy" Woo debuted in 1956 in the pages of Yellow Claw #1, which is somehow a racially insensitive story starring a Chinese villain. The role of Woo as a superhero in this story is crucial as it at least softened the "Yellow Peril" undertones of the book.
As time goes by, the United States became culturally and politically sensitive, so Woo got a prominent role as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury. Just recently, Woo (played by Randall Park) appeared on the big screen in the movie Ant-Man and the Wasp.
Wong
Lee and Steve Ditko created Wong in 1963, a young, athletic sidekick to Doctor Strange. Eventually, he became one of the characters with a long mystical backstory and history and even had a love interest - which is rarely granted to Asian male characters in the American media. Marvel fans also know Woo as he appeared in the Avengers: Infinity War.
Colleen Wing
Created in 1974, Wing appeared on Netflix's Iron Fist where she made her debut by saving Iron Fist in a battle against a Japanese cult. She is a martial arts expert and will team up with Misty Knight (African-American woman descent). Their team-up marks the first women-of-color team-up in American comics.
These three Asian superheroes either started as stereotypes or one-dimensional sidekicks. That's what Asian actually meant to Americans during the 1950s and the 1970s. But under Lee's era, Marvel has tried to flesh out the characters. And even though Asian representation wasn't much in demand around those times, Lee still gave us a few memorable Asian heroes.
And aside from racial diversity, Lee also co-created the first physically disabled superhero (the blind Daredevil) and African-American superhero (Black Panther). In addition, the major difference between Marvel and DC superheroes has always been relatability. DC's main characters were an idealized version of humans we wish we could be (billionaires or immortals), while Marvel's superheroes had anger issues (Hulk), suffer from alcoholism (Iron Man), nerds (Spider-Man), or outcasts (X-Men). Basically, they are people that we know - and it could be us.
