‘Daredevil’ Actor Peter Shinkoda Claims Jeph Loeb Made Anti-Asian Comments to Writers

Daredevil actor Peter Shinkoda is speaking out against former Marvel Television boss Jeph Leob. During a #SaveDaredevilCon panel, Shinkoda, who plays the Hand member Nobu Yoshioka in the Netflix series, claimed that Loeb made insensitive, anti-Asian remarks to writers and showrunners throughout the show’s run. According to the Daredevil star, Loeb told the writers that “nobody cares about Chinese people and Asian people” and successfully pushed for a storyline involving his character to be dropped.

On Sunday, Shinkoda sat down (virtually) with Daredevil co-stars Geoffrey Cantor (Ellison) and Tommy Walker (Francis) to discuss the popular Netflix Original, which was canceled in late 2018 after three seasons. During the panel, Shinkoda offhandedly revealed that the writers had discussed diving deeper into Nobu’s relationship with Madame Gao (Wai Ching Ho), but it was “scrapped” by Marvel higher-ups.

After some hesitation, the actor explained that “Jeph Loeb told the writers room not to write for Nobu and Gao” and urged them to drop the storyline. “This was reiterated many times by many of the writers and showrunners,” said Shinkoda. “He said, ‘Nobody cares about Chinese people and Asian people. There were three previous Marvel movies, a trilogy called Blade that was made where Wesley Snipes killed 200 Asians each movie. Nobody gives a sh*t, so don’t write about Nobu and Gao.’ And they were forced to put their storyline down and dropped it.”

This is not the first time that Loeb, former Executive Vice President of Marvel Television, has been accused of making insensitive comments about Asians. In the same panel, Walker revealed that years ago, Daredevil showrunner Doug Petrie pitched an Asian or mixed-race version of Iron Fist that was quickly rejected by Loeb’s Marvel TV; instead, British actor Finn Jones was cast as protagonist Danny Rand, a decision that was widely criticized.

In 2018, Loeb also came under fire for wearing a karate uniform to promote Iron Fist at San Diego Comic-Con. When the former Marvel exec was asked about the show’s white savior tropes — the show centers on a white man who discovers a mystical Asian city and learns kung fu before becoming an evil-fighting vigilante — Loeb reportedly told former io9 managing editor Katharine Trendacosta that “Danny Rand had to be an outsider.”

Watch the #SaveDaredevilCon panel above. Peter Shinkoda’s discussion of Jeph Loeb’s alleged anti-Asian comments begins at the 10-minute mark.

Where to stream Daredevil