Marvel Fans Call for ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ Star Mike Moh to Play Shang-Chi

A growing number of Marvel fans are calling for Inhumans and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star Mike Moh to headline Marvel Studios' upcoming Shang-Chi movie.

Both actor and martial artist, Moh — who played the green-skinned, amphibious Triton in short-lived television series Marvel's Inhumans, set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe — impressed with his impeccable portrayal of Bruce Lee in the debut trailer for the Quentin Tarantino-directed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, set in 1969 Los Angeles.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. star and comic book fan Patton Oswalt on Twitter nominated Moh for the role of Shang-Chi, an expert martial artist and master of kung-fu whose physical prowess places him among the deadliest fighters in the Marvel Universe. At times a member of the Heroes for Hire, the Avengers, and the Protectors, the Chinese superhero is a highly-trained warrior in peak physical condition whose martial arts mastery is compounded by the channeling of chi, allowing him to strike with nearly superhuman force.

Apparently you ARE this. Hey @Marvel — (cough) Shang Chi (cough) https://t.co/9l3OGSsKqn

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) March 20, 2019

Now the 35-year-old Asian American actor is a fan-favorite pick to play Shang-Chi, who will emerge as the first Asian superhero to headline a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Overseen by Scott Buck (Marvel's Iron Fist), Inhumans was cancelled by network ABC after just eight episodes. ABC head Channing Dungey previously said the series — a spinoff of S.H.I.E.L.D., first to explore the concept of the genetically-modified race of Inhumans — "didn't perform for us at the level that we would've wanted," explaining its ratings were "less exciting for us than we hoped they would be."

Moh appeared in Street Fighter: Resurrection and episodes of Fox drama Empire. He previously tested for Davos in Iron Fist, a role eventually filled by Sacha Dhawan. Marvel is now developing Shang-Chi in a modernized take on the character under Asian-American filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12, The Glass Castle).