Lewis Tan, who most notably played Zhou Cheng in Netflix’sIron Fist,revealed that he landed the lead role inMortal Kombatsoon after he lost out on playing the titular superhero in Marvel’sShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The 34-year-old actor stated that he was devastated after he didn’t book the Marvel gig.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringswas directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and written by David Callaham. The 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will reportedly see Shang-Chi, who is also known as the Master of Kung Fu, fight for the Ten Rings. The character was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin, first appearing inSpecial Marvel Edition#15. TheShang-Chifilm ispart of MCU’s Phase 4and is the first Marvel film with an Asian protagonist.
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Due to the pandemic,Marvel pushedShang-Chi’s theatrical releasefrom July to September 2021. The cast includes Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Tony Leung as Wenwu/The Mandarin, the leader of the Ten Rings terrorist organization. In a recent interview withEntertainment Tonight, Mortal Kombat’s Tan noted that he learned that he lost the lead role to Liu on a plane to Japan. “I just lost a crazy job – a really, really high-caliber level job – and I heard that news on a plane to Japan, and I was, like, devastated," said Tan. However, Tan noted that Simu is a friend of his and believes that he will do a “fantastic job with the material.”
Things soon turned around for Tan. In 2019, he was cast as the lead character Cole Young inSimon McQuoid’sMortal Kombat. “I did this mediation course, and I came back and then I was on my way to Nashville, Tennessee, to race cars at NASCAR…and all of a sudden I get a phone call saying I got the role in [Mortal Kombat].” Tan was supposed to drive a racecar that day, but he ended changing his mind. “I ended up not doing it because I was like, ‘Uh oh! I need to be safe now because I’ve got an opportunity here,'" Tan said of his newfound role in the reboot film.
The upcoming martial arts filmis based on thepopularMortal Kombatfighting video game franchiseand is the thirdMortal Kombatfilm made to date. While 1997’sMortal Kombat: Annihilationwas a commercial and critical flop, the original grossed over $120 million worldwide and is currently the seventh highest-grossing video game film adaption of all time.
The newest version is produced byJames Wan (Insidious,Saw)and will see washed-MMA fighter Coly Young battle it out against the enemies of Outworld. Tan asserted that he performed all of the fight scenes himself because that’s what his idols did. He trained with ex-UFC welterweight champion Tyon Woodley and learned numerous different fighting styles. Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano, and Mehcad Brooks all hold key rolesin the violent R-ratedMortal Kombatfilm.
Mortal Kombatis scheduled to be released in theaters and on HBO Max on April 23.
