Nimona has had a bit of a struggle in getting to us, but hopefully, all that stress will make its imminent release all the sweeter. The animated film was originally bought up by Disney but was then canned, apparently in objection to the strong LGBTQ+ themes that run throughout the film. This wasn’t enough to keep the film down, and one of its stars, The Try Guys member, Eugene Lee Yang, knows something about standing tall despite what others may say.
Nimona is a punk alternative to the classic fairytale, following the story of the titular character, a shapeshifter who has impulsive and often violent tendencies. The film is based on the webtoon by ND Stevenson, the creator and showrunner for the Netflix animated series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, another show which had heaps of queer characters. However, it would seem that Nimona‘s queerness was too much for the “family-friendly” Disney, who seem unable to go beyond hinting at anything other than heteronormal love.
They squashed the film, with many insiders saying that this was directly related to the film’s LGBTQ+ themes. Thankfully, Netflix took hold of it retaining many of the original cast with Chloë Grace Moretz in the lead role along with Riz Ahmed with Yang being added at this point. Yang is best known for his role as one of the founding members of the popular YouTube group The Try Guys, but beyond that, he is known for being a vocal member of the LGBTQ+ community as well as Asian onscreen representation.
Yang came out on June 15, 2019, and did so in a fabulous and thought-provoking dance piece he choreographed himself. Through it, he expresses the joys and pain of coming out, celebrating the community itself whilst also reflecting on how it feels to come out in an East Asian family (Yang is South Korean-American), and the dangers facing those who are bold enough to live their truth. The video has over 20 million views and is considered a powerful artistic depiction of his experience and the experience of others in the community.
Yang has also been making moves in Hollywood and is starring as Ambrosius Goldenloin, the champion knight of the Institution in Nimona. Within the comics there is a relationship between his character and the former knight, Ballister Blackheart (Ahmed), and, according to sources, an “I love you” moment between the two in the film was a part of Disney’s reason for shutting it down. Of course there is was a silver lining and this was Yang’s casting after it was picked up by Netflix. This is not Yang’s only voice-over role this year, he voices the character of Toul in Star Wars: Visions Volume 2.
You can catch Yang in Nimona coming to Netflix on June 30.