SEOUL - How did Park Seo-joon's much-hyped role in The Marvels end up being a glorified cameo?
That was the question some disappointed netizens had after watching the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film, which is showing in Singapore cinemas.
After all, the popular South Korean actor appears in a composite image on the official international poster for The Marvels alongside lead cast members such as Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani and Samuel L. Jackson. He also has his own solo character poster.
In this sequel to 2019's Captain Marvel, Larson reprises her role as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, while Parris returns as Monica Rambeau/Photon and Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel. Parris and Vellani were last seen in the Disney+ series WandaVision (2021) and Ms Marvel (2022).
Park, 34, who plays Captain Marvel's ally and love interest Prince Yan, is said to have under three minutes of screen time. The Marvels has a runtime of 105 minutes.
"I thought he was one of the lead characters. I can't believe his screen time is less than the time it takes to cook cup noodles," wrote a fan on the South Korean Internet community The Qoo, according to a translation by entertainment site Koreaboo. "This puts a bad taste in my mouth. It just pisses me off how they are treating the Asian character."
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However, some fans pointed out that Park is obviously not supposed to be a main character in The Marvels and are glad his appearance has already sparked so much discussion.
They compared him to big Hollywood names who also had brief screen appearances: Bill Murray as Lord Krylar in Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (2023), and Russell Crowe as Zeus in Thor: Love And Thunder (2022).
And despite being part of the titular group of 10 superpowered beings in Eternals (2021), Korean-American actor Don Lee - who played the powerful Gilgamesh - had less screen time than most of his co-stars after his character was killed off midway into the movie.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.