The First Trailer for Scarlett Johansson's Controversial 'Ghost in the Shell' Movie Is Here

(Image credit: Marie Claire)

published 13 November 2016

The first trailer for Ghost in the Shell, starring Scarlett Johansson, is here. Based on the Japanese manga series of the same name, the movie is highly-stylized and definitely not short on action.

As Entertainment Weekly reports, Johansson's casting was the source of controversy earlier this year, since her character, The Major, is Japanese in the source material.

At the time, producer Steven Paul defended the casting choice, which many called out as an example of whitewashing, telling BuzzFeed News, "I think everybody is going to end up being really happy with it. They're going to be very, very happy with it when they see what we've actually done with it, and I don't think anybody's going to be disappointed."

After seeing the first trailer, though, opinions are mixed. While some viewers are expressing cautious optimism or even outright excitement for the movie, many others still take issue with the decision to cast a white actress to play a Japanese character.

I really don't think 'Ghost in the Shell' is gonna do well and it's their own fault. They could've just cast Japanese actors.November 13, 2016

Just because I think the upcoming Ghost in the Shell movie looks good doesn't mean the problems are erased like that.November 13, 2016

Ghost in the Shell -- Wow, all this really cool stuff is only made all the more awkward because Major is ScarJ and not an Asian actress.November 13, 2016

Some people are even drawing connections between the problematic casting in the film and the 2016 election.

In other news—the first trailer for ScarJo's #GhostInTheShell just hit. Centering whiteness & othering POCs doesn't just happen in politics. pic.twitter.com/ezGezKvvfwNovember 13, 2016

#GhostInTheShell embraces Japanese culture then eliminates the Japanese from it. It centers whiteness above all. This is how we got Trump.November 13, 2016

As if current events aren't soul-crushing enough, heeeeeeeere's #GhostInTheShell and the normalization of whitewashed cultural appropriationNovember 13, 2016

Ghost in the Shell will be released in theaters March 31, 2017.

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Kayleigh Roberts is a freelance writer and editor with over 10 years of professional experience covering entertainment of all genres, from new movie and TV releases to nostalgia, and celebrity news. Her byline has appeared in Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, The Atlantic, Allure, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, Bustle, Refinery29, Girls’ Life Magazine, Just Jared, and Tiger Beat, among other publications. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

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