Chinese Superheroes (Photo : DC Comics)
Chinese moviegoers have become so enamored with Hollywood made movies that "Captain America: Civil War" beat handily in the box office the last film by acclaimed Chinese director Wu Tianming, “Song of the Phoenix.”
In the light of Captain America’s fame, Fanjin Media entered into an agreement with Marvel directors to co-produce a Chinese superhero. However, a new report by Gizmodo said that it is not just Marvel which has Chinese superheroes on the horizon.
Even DC Comics is coming up with a Chinese Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. It is the result of the current Man of Steel dying whose powers would be diffused into many other people.
One of them is Kenan Kong, the Chinese Superman. DC would introduce the new Superman in July. Gene Luen Yang, the creator of Kenan Kong, wrote that the name of the character would have to be a plausible Chinese name which has a meaning related to the character’s journey.
It’s English version should be derived using Pinyin, the standard used in mainland China, and have the initials K.K. to rhyme with Clark Kent, the human identity of the original Superman. However, because Pinyin does not have a hard “C,” Luen Yang could not use C.K.
At the same time, Americans who have not studied Pinyin should be able to pronounce the English version which meant he had to avoid certain letters like “X” and “Q.” For surname, the author’s choice was between Kong and Kang who is a conqueror in Marvel.
For first name, Luen Yang’s initial choice was Kenji, but it was a common Japanese name which explains why he chose Kenan eventually.
The new Batman and Wonder Woman will debut on Aug. 10 in New Super-Man #2.
