The last time we heard about the Ghost in the Shell movie, it was not great news — the one-two punch of immense backlash at the first official image of Scarlett Johannson as Motoko Kusanagi and a follow-up report alleging the film attempted to digitally alter white actors to appear Asian left fans furious. This latest news, however, is an improvement.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Rila Fukushima, best known to Western audiences for her appearance as Yukio in The Wolverine, or her minor role as Katana on Arrow, has joined the film in an undisclosed role. She’s the second Asian actor to do so, following the announcement earlier this year that Beat Takeshi will play Kusanagi’s boss, Daisuke Aramaki.
Also interesting to note? THR‘s report specifically calls Johannson’s character Kusanagi — after Paramount’s official comments on the beginning of production only referred to Johannson as playing “The Major”, there was some speculation that Kusanagi would receive a name change to reflect Johansson’s casting. That doesn’t appear to be the case, but hey, at least the film is actively adding the Asian actors it desperately needs.
Ghost in the Shell is expected to come out next year.