Mulan as Ping (left) and Li Shang in the original animated version of Mulan
Disney fans are disappointed after it was announced that Li Shang will not appear in the live-action remake of Mulan. Li Shang, warrior and army captain, served as Mulan’s love interest in the original.
Many LGBTI Disney fans have had a theory that Li Shang was bisexual, due to how close his relationship was with Mulan’s male alter-ego, Ping.
The replacement
Instead, according to Huffington Post, Mulan’s romantic interest will be Chen Honghui, a character who did not appear in the original film.
According to the casting call notes, Chen Honghui is an army recruit determined to be the ‘best soldier in human history.’ He becomes Mulan’s biggest rival and often bullies her.
Reactions
Disney fans on Twitter, including @nerdyasians who broke the news of the casting, were incredibly upset by this change. Many noted how important Li Shang was for bisexual representation. Now, he’s being replaced by a misogynistic character who has little respect for Mulan.
saddened to report it’s basically been confirmed that li shang will not be in the live-action mulan.
the mulan casting call has been confirmed to be accurate. donnie yen was cast as “commander tung,” who is in the description for “chen honghui.”
rest in peace bisexual icon. pic.twitter.com/7El8TDhJg5
— nerdy (@nerdyasians) April 16, 2018
wait, so it’s official now that the live action mulan won’t have bisexual icon li shang in it? i’m gonna throw some hands if they even think about switching this shit up to leave out the king. pic.twitter.com/Z9veWbJRH7
— trinnie 🇵🇭🇹🇭🇲🇾🇻🇳 (@mixielot) April 14, 2018
disney when they realized they accidentally made li shang bisexual by having him fall in love with mulan while he thought she was a boy and that there’s nothing they can say now to deny it or change that fact pic.twitter.com/FZWIYqDY8v
— gabi (@harleivy) April 12, 2018
a mulan live action film without bisexual icon li shang NO THANK YOU
— bearded steve (@jakesperalta_) April 17, 2018
Are Disney really changing the plot of Mulan just so that they don’t have to cast the bisexual icon that is Captain Li Shang pic.twitter.com/DXiCxL7lfa
— Lotta (@rhaegars_) April 13, 2018
when u wanna support the upcoming mulan remake bc disney cast a gorgeous, talented actress who’s actually chinese to play mulan but they’re also replacing bisexual icon li shang with a random misogynistic dude who’ll overshadow mulan’s journey & add 0 good elements to the story pic.twitter.com/N88ZKz5am8
— gabi (@harleivy) April 17, 2018
disney might be removing shang from the mulan liveaction remake but he’ll ALWAYS be a bisexual icon in the animated movie and theres not a damn thing they can do about it and guess what? animations are forever gonna be superior to live action movies anyway. we stay winning gays. pic.twitter.com/ypLxqoIEW0
— gabi (@harleivy) April 17, 2018
disney removed bisexual icon li shang from the live action mulan n replaced him with a man who bullies mulan until he finds out she’s a woman. i’m more than disappointed
— kya (@nykaiya) April 17, 2018
since li shang THE bisexual king will not be in the mulan live action and instead they’re introducing that new problematic character that bullies her up until he finds out she’s a woman i don’t care about it anymore and i hope it flops pic.twitter.com/HCuL3QivhV
— estefany /5 (@brookIynmarvel) April 17, 2018
anyway li shang was a BISEXUAL icon he wanted to F U C K mulan when he thought she was a boy theres nothing ANY of you can do about it including disney https://t.co/MkYd4UPBZt
— gabi (@harleivy) April 13, 2018
li shang was only harsh on mulan (ping) at the beginning because ping appeared to be trouble and hold the troop back, but as mulan proved herself worthy in wits and combat on the battlefield the Bisexual Legend Li Shang saw ping as his equal (and also fell in love)
— it is i, the binchiest bi, (@ejnoodles) April 17, 2018
They really gonna remove Li Shang, bisexual icon and daily drinker of respect women juice, from the live action movie Mulan? And replace him with fuck boy “I-hate-you-but-turns-out-you’re-a-woman-so-I-like-you-now” McGeezer? Awful, truly awful. I don’t wanna see it now.
— Ǝ|| Luzaet Jemez ||E (@lizzytm) April 18, 2018
I’m so torn over the live-action mulan. As a WOC I really want this movie with an all Asian cast to succeed. As a bisexual I want it to flop so badly…HOW DARE YOU REPLACE BISEXUAL KING LI SHANG?!?! DISHONOR ON YA COW!!!! pic.twitter.com/TAaRvR559r
— •K• 💖💜💙 (@kayjj92) April 18, 2018
