GHOST IN THE SHELL Casting: THE WOLVERINE's Rila Fukushima Joins Scarlett Johansson in Live-Action Adaptation

After courting some controversy with accusations of whitewashing its lead role by casting Scarlett Johansson, DreamWorks' live-action film adaptation of Ghost in the Shell has added a new cast member. THR reports that Rila Fukushima has come on board, though it's unclear which role she'll play in the new movie. Maybe she'll be one of the Section 9 soldiers?

Fukushima is best known for playing Yukio in The Wolverine and Katana on Arrow (she also popped up in one episode of Game of Thrones last year). I haven't read the manga or seen the anime, so I'm sort of flying blind on this one. I know the official synopsis:

Based on the internationally-acclaimed sci-fi property, “GHOST IN THE SHELL” follows the Major, a special ops, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 is faced with an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic’s advancements in cyber technology.

I know the studio did some unfortunate testing to see if they could make ScarJo appear more Asian. I know it currently has Pilou Asbæk, Michael Pitt, and Takeshi "Beat" Kitano on board to star alongside Johansson. And I know Rupert Sanders (Snow White and The Huntsman) is directing. That's about it. Well, at the very least, the producers have finally cast an Asian actress in this movie that's supposed to be about Asian people. Seems like the least they could do.