Simu Liu Joins Netflix’s ‘Atlas’ in Villain Role

Simu Liu is joining the cast of Netflix’s upcoming movie, Atlas, where he’ll play a villain.

The Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings star has landed the new role alongside Jennifer Lopez in the sci-fi film with Sterling K. Brown and Abraham Popoola also joining the project.

The film, which is currently in pre-production, will see Brad Peyton in a director role. Aron Eli Colette has written the screenplay for the movie and worked off an original script by Leo Sardarian.

The film tells the story of an intelligence analyst, Atlas (played by Lopez), who gets stranded on a distant planet and must learn to fight inside a military-grade mech suit in order to survive.

Atlas is part of the creative partnership between Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions and Netflix which sees J.Lo, her producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and manager Benny Medina working on a slate of films, TV series and other content with the streaming giant.

Who is Simu Liu?

Simu Liu is probably best known for his role in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings. The film grossed over $430 million worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing films of the pandemic.

Next up, fans of Liu’s can see him in the highly anticipated Barbie alongside Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

“Waxing has been an education to say the least. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life. I have such a newfound admiration for the incredibly brave women who go through this on a monthly basis.” says Liu, who plays a Ken doll in the film.

While there’s not much currently know about the plot of the Barbie movie, Liu is a fan of how movie bosses have approached the project.

“Honestly, the discourse online is giving me life. With every casting announcement or bit of news, they’re like: ‘What is this?’ And that’s perfect. The less you know about it the better.” Liu adds.