Any video game fans who are currently in the market for an explosive, gory FPS will be thrilled to hear that Shadow Warrior 3 will release this March. Technically the fourth game in the series after Flying Wild Hog and Devolver Digital revived the Shadow Warrior IP in 2013, Shadow Warrior 3 takes players on yet another bloodsoaked adventure with Lo Wang, who now has to defeat an ancient dragon that he and his former enemy Orochi Zilla have unleashed. Along the way, Shadow Warrior 3 fans will pick up all kinds of new weapons, mobility tools, and other gadgets that'll help Lo Wang tear through demons of all shapes and sizes.
Longtime Shadow Warrior fans may have noticed that Lo Wang's voice sounds a little different when watching the game's trailers. They're not off the mark; Lo Wang has a new voice actor in the upcoming game. Jason Liebrecht, who has voiced Lo Wang since the 2013 Shadow Warrior reboot, has been replaced been Mike Moh. Fans might know Moh from his roles as Bruce Lee in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or Ryu in Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist. Based on some past comments from Devolver, Lo Wang's recasting seems to stem from an internal initiative to bring Lo Wang up to date and better respect the character's background.
The Cause for Lo Wang's Recasting
PC Gamer reportedly received an email from Devolver Digital marketing manager Robbie Paterson explaining Lo Wang's changes. According to Paterson, Devolver wanted to modernize the character in multiple ways. Aside from giving Lo Wang a more detailed backstory than the original Shadow Warrior provided, Devolver decided it was important to address the "mistake of casting a voice actor inconsistent with the hero Lo Wang's cultural background." Mike Moh is indeed Lo Wang's first Asian voice actor; before Liebrecht, Lo Wang was voiced by the late John William Galt.
Lo Wang is far from the only video game character of color to have a white voice actor. On the contrary, lots of iconic characters of color, like Street Fighter's Balrog, have a history of featuring white voice actors. In recent years, some studios have begun reassessing these casting choices and replacing the voices of characters with actors who better match that character's background. For instance, League of Legends' Lucian, who had a white voice actor for about six years, switched from Patrick Seitz to T.J. Storm in 2019. It seems that Devolver will join that movement by recasting Lo Wang.
A New Generation of Shadow Warrior
Devolver's decision to give the role of Lo Wang to Mike Moh is definitely the right move. The many corners of the entertainment industry, including the game industry, collectively have a long history of whitewashing characters of color, rather than finding talent whose background matches that of the characters. Recasting characters like Shadow Warrior's Lo Wang gives more visibility to talented performers like Moh, which will ideally help lead the game industry towards featuring a more diverse range of top gaming voice actors on the whole.
It'll be interesting to see how Shadow Warrior 3 further expands on Lo Wang. His new voice actor is apparently part of a broader initiative to modernize the character, and although Shadow Warrior has already been more plot-heavy since the 2013 reboot, Shadow Warrior 3 will supposedly explore Lo Wang's backstory in even greater detail. The Shadow Warrior franchise has a spotty history when it comes to handling Lo Wang's race, alongside other major controversial issues like its treatment of women. Flying Wild Hog's recent installations have made significant progress in righting those wrongs, so hopefully Shadow Warrior 3 will pull the franchise even further out of its caricature-laden origins. Mike Moh's casting is certainly a step in the right direction.
Shadow Warrior 3 releases March 1, 2022, for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.