'Death Note' Movie News, Release Date: Director Adam Wingard Talks Whitewashing Controversy, Ryuk Character
The American version of "Death Note" will be arriving in Netflix this week, and excited fans are waiting with bated breath.
While there has been a fair amount of excitement surrounding the release of "Death Note," there has also been some criticism directed at the movie because of whitewashing claims. "Death Note" was adapted from a Japanese manga, which has been turned into an anime series and several movies in Japan.
Director Adam Wingard recently spoke to Vulture about the controversy.
"It's one of those things where it's a good conversation to be having, and it wasn't one we were really expecting," Wingard said. "It wasn't until the Ghost in the Shell cracked it open [that] it became a conversation. But by then, we had already cast all of that stuff."
He added: "It's not just taking a character and trying to say a white kid is a Japanese kid. It is a whole new thing."
Some fans have been critical of the film, while others are waiting to watch it before making any judgments. Netflix recently released a clip that featured two integral characters, Light (Nat Wolff) and L (Lakeith Stanfield), in a confrontation. For those who are unaware of the main plot, Light possesses the Death Note and has been killing off people using the notebook, while L is a detective who believes Light to be the killer.
The clip saw Light and L meeting at a restaurant as the rain pours outside. L, whose face was partly covered, confirmed to Light that his real name was not actually L. This is important because in order to kill someone using the Death Note, one must write the person's full name and know what they look like.
"Death Note" will also see Willem Dafoe as Ryuk, the god of death who bestows Light with the notebook. His appearance has already been glimpsed in clips released by Netflix, but it has recently been revealed that it required two people to pull off playing Ryuk.
"The way that we did it was, on set, there's a seven-foot-tall actor named Jason Liles, who's actually in costume," Wingard told Entertainment Weekly. Dafoe then provided the voice and facial acting for the character.
"Death Note" will be released on Friday, Aug. 25 on Netflix.
Watch Light and L's meeting below:
