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A Chinese Superman will be at the center of a new DC Comics series that will be released this summer, with the graphic art giant looking to introduce non-white characters into its comic universe.
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The latest iteration of Superman will be a Chinese 17-year-old from Shanghai named Kenan Kong. When Kenan obtains his superpowers, he will be alienated from his peers, allowing the author to introduce an element of “otherness” as part of the immigrant experience.
Gene Luen Yang, the child of Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants, aims to reflect his own experiences in the story he pens.“I would definitely be more comfortable writing a Chinese-American character, as I myself am Chinese-American,” Gene Luen Yang, the author of "New Superman Featuring Kenan Kong," told NBC News.
“Writing a Chinese character is, for me, a lot like writing ‘The Other,’ another culture," he said. "So it requires a lot more homework and talking to people who actually live that experience.”
DC Comics confirmed last year that a Latina named Jennifer Cruz will play one of the heroes in a new Green Lantern series.
The entrance of minority characters into the comic books universe could potentially lead to the introduction of minority characters in movies based on those comics, something many fans have been demanding for years.
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