Ludi Lin, the actor who played Liu Kang recently in Mortal Kombat, has called out Amazon for a lack of diversity in its upcoming The Lord of the Rings TV show.

　　Responding to a story about Amazon boss Jennifer Salke justifying the show's gargantuan budget by saying it covers the cost of world-building, Lin said he would like to see greater representation on the show.

　　"It's going to be difficult to justify building a 'huge world' without any characters that look Asian. Turn that [imagination] on us, [Jennifer Salke]. It's not hard, we're right here," Lin said (via ScreenRant).

　　Lin tagged Salke in his tweet, but she had not responded on Twitter or elsewhere at press time.

　　It’s going to be difficult to justify building a “huge world” without any characters that look Asian. Turn that imagine on us @JSalke. It’s not hard, we’re right here.

　　Amazon Boss Justifies ‘Lord of the Rings’ $465 Million Budget: ‘Huge World-Building’ https://t.co/Xx8F651k7m

　　— Ludi Lin (@ludi_lin) May 13, 2021

　　One of the commonly cited issues with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings series from the early 2000s is its lack of diversity. Some might have thought or hoped that Amazon would cast a more diverse group of actors for its new show. Other major Hollywood franchises such as Harry Potter and Game of Thrones have been criticized for this as well.

　　Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV show is currently filming in New Zealand, and Charlotte Brändström (The Witcher, The Man in the High Castle) was recently hired to direct multiple episodes.

　　Amazon is reportedly spending $465 million for The Lord of the Rings season one, a figure that makes for a "sexy headline," according to Salke.

　　"But that is really building the infrastructure of what will sustain the whole series," she said. "As for how many people need to watch Lord of the Rings? A lot. (Laughs.) A giant, global audience needs to show up to it as appointment television, and we are pretty confident that that will happen."

　　In other Lord of the Rings news, Amazon recently canceled its Lord of the Rings MMO due in part to a reported contract dispute. Additionally, new details have come to light about the Soviet Lord of the Rings TV movie.

　　The Lord of the Rings TV show description:

　　"Amazon Studios' forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone."