Ten years ago, a relative unknown tweeted at Marvel an audacious, perhaps silly, longshot: “Hey @Marvel, great job with Capt. America and Thor, now how about an Asian American Hero?” July 17, 2014. When Shang-Shi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was announced four years later, Simon Liu tweeted a follow-up: "Ok Marvel, are we gonna talk or what?"
Whether some producer or lowly intern saw that tweet and if it made a difference, no one truly knows. I like to think the cosmos noticed and the energy led him to the path of positivity and success he holds today.

Even before learning of this fun story, I had tweeted (X’ed?) the likes of Antoine Fuqua, Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Shawn Levy, James Gunn, Hugh Jackman, and Dwayne Johnson… to no avail. Sometimes, I feel like a Who from Horton Hears a Who, but no one seems to hear or see us. Who am I referencing you say? Well…Arab-Americans. I was speaking at a prestigious law firm in Washington, DC 20 years ago. After my discussion on media and entertainment, one of the partners, an older Jewish woman, candidly and sweetly offered advice: “You know what you all need, you need a sitcom. Look at what Seinfeld did for us”. I recall laughing and agreeing with her wholeheartedly, then stating that if there was a sitcom about “nothing” called “The Khaleds” or something along those lines, inevitably, violence or terrorism would likely make its way into the narrative.
Today, we are doing slightly better with shows like Mo and Ramy, Bad Boys Directors Adil and Bilall, and of course the greats like Omar Sharif, Selma Hayek, and the father of Halloween, Moustapha Akkad (Killed in a terrorist attack in 2005). Still, I have grand hopes of real representation and inclusion, beyond the check the box few, the hidden many, or the one-dimensional villains.
I’m a huge superhero fan (are you listening Marvel and DC?), specifically, Batman – as in my wedding cake was half Batman/half vanilla, to appease the normals. Raz al Ghul was impeccably played by Liam Neeson, born in Northern Ireland. The character, complex and committed to his ideals was both Batman’s mentor and nemeses. In the comics, the character was introduced in 1971 and was clearly Arab. The only remnants of his ethnicity Christopher Nolan (who I believe is generally a genius) was the name, Raz al Ghul… Arabic for “The head of the demon/ghoul”. It would have been such an opportunity to truly see representation of Arabs and Arab-Americans with this added complexity, but alas. Great, we got an Arab-Canadian to play Aladdin for the live action, after the debacle that was the cartoons: White Arabs = Good; Dark Arabs = Bad.
Antoine Fuqua is set to be directing Denzel Washington in a film about the great military strategist, Hannibal, with Denzel set to play the lead role. Denzel, one of the greatest thespians of our time should not play Hannibal. Hannibal was a Carthaginian general, in present day North Africa. Ethnically, he was Phoenician. He likely looked like me, olive complexion, hairy, with a big nose (That’s ok, this is a safe space.)

Which brings me to James Gunn and the Green Lantern Corps. The only Arab-American superhero is Simon Baz, one of the more powerful Green Lanterns, as he possesses two rings. Bring it! Let’s talk about making that a reality, a positive, humorous, complex, surprising character that shakes people’s expectations. As mentioned before, I’m a big superhero fan. I keep thinking of Professor X in the first X Men film from 2000 responding back about mutants, “We’re not what you think. Not all of us”. I always thought that phrase applied to Arabs or Muslims in the post 9/11 climate and beyond. I follow Hollywood on this topic, I teach seminars that cover everything from culture and religions to history and media and of course counterterrorism. We can do better as a society. I am the mentee of Professor Jack Shaheen. Dr. Shaheen was the one subject matter expert Hollywood looked to when they needed an accurate portrayal of an Arab or Arab-American. We lost him in 2017 and he has left an unfilled void.
Yes, Rami Malek won the Oscar for playing Freddie Mercury and Ramy Youssef is a momentum magnet and was in 2023’s Oscar winner Poor Things. They also both hosted SNL… clearly there is room for the Arab-American community, but I clearly only those whose name is a variation of Rami/y can host. Hello, my stage name is now Ramy Shora!
Look, I’m not asking for more than what is truth, I’m just asking to be seen. The culture and people are all around us. Jerry Seinfeld’s maternal grandparents were from Aleppo, Syria (Yes, you can be Jewish and Arab, please reference Paula Abdul too). Ariana Grande and Vince Vaughn have spoken openly about their Arab heritage. The fun sequel, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice is upon us…but the inspiration of the name is a star in the Orion constellation, Beetleguise – a poor transliteration from the Arabic used by the scientists who discovered and named it, “Bat el Jawza” – or the “shoulder of the giant”. You see, if you say his name three times, yes, he shows up…but he speaks Arabic! What a fun(ny) twist if that were in the film. See me and help me see others. We are all better for it as a society.
Nawar Shora, JD is the Author of The Arab-American Handbook (2010) and Muslims, Arabs, and Arab-Americans (2024). He consults, teaches, and speaks about history, culture, leadership, and true equity.
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