Supporting characters for The Return of the Condor Heroes

Yu Bo as Gongsun Zhi

First things first, this batch of posters is finally using The Return of the Condor Heroes 神雕侠侣 as its title! It could be remembered that the show went with The New Version of the Candor Heroes 神雕侠侣 in previous posters. Whether the change was intentional or a simple typo will probably forever be a mystery, and it's still not clear which title will stick (let's push for Condor).

New posters of the young and older supporting cast have been released. Inasmuch as I love the franchise and know most of these characters by heart, a lot of the younger cast don't really stand out to me whereas Yu Bo's casting as Gongsun Zhi may be too outstanding. As Yang Guo's creepy rival for Xialongnu, having Yu Bo playing the character makes this villain a little too swoon-worthy. 

Mark Lee Tien-chu as Hong Qi Gong

Shen Junyi as Ouyang Feng

Liu Xiaohai as Zhou Botong

Liu Dongxu as Qiu Chuji

Wang Dao as Ke Zhen E

Yuan Hang as Huo Du

Liu Shuo as Zhen Zhibing

Chen Fu as Wang Chong Yang

Zhao Luoran as Lu Wushuang

Zhang Yuqi as Guo Polu

Sun Siwei as Zhang Zichong (Zhang Junbao)

Wang Yifei as Cheng Ying

Chen Xuanming as Wu Xiuwen

Ariel Liang Baoling as Gongsun Lv E

Kang Lin Xi as Sha Gu

Tong Jing as Yelu Yan

Liu Puyuan as Wu Dunlu

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Condor Heroes remake does damage control with new striking stills of leads

The New Version of the Candor Heroes 新神雕侠侣 has dropped more stills of Thomas Tong Mengshi and Mao Xiaohui. I saw it earlier today and decided to post it here in case all you've seen were the posters from yesterday. Those actually caused quite a stir online. Expectations were high for Xiaolongnü to begin with. It's a character described as 'beautiful and elegant beyond convention' in the Jin Yong novels, so it came as a shock when the first look at the new Xiaolongnü was of her beneath layers of heavy shading applied to her photo.

Because of it, Mao Xiaohui was trending no. 1 on weibo despite being a completely rookie. She's only starred in two dramas and both have not yet aired. Now, I'm half-convinced that this was a clever gimmick. The latest batch of stills show that Mao Xiaohui does have some of that ethereal air of confidence. Comparisons will be always be made to actresses from previous adaptations, but at least there's hope for this remake. And yes, I'm loving the new Yang Guo.

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First character posters of The New Version of the Candor Heroes

The newest remake of The Return of the Condor Heroes 新神雕侠侣 has dropped posters of the cast led by Tong Mengshi (The Taoism Grandmaster), Mao Xiaohui (The Twin Flower Legend) and Wen Qi (Eagles and Youngster). I was onboard with the idea of a rookie cast staving off pressure from this being the 9th (or is it 10th?) version of the same story. 

I'm also an early fan of relatively new actor Tong Mengshi and still can't believe that the casting directors actually went with my pick for Yang Guo. At 15, Wen Qi is already a Golden Horse awarded actress thereby making her casting as Guo Xiang a promising one. This leaves lead actress Mao Xiaohui who plays one of the most contested characters as Xiaolongnü and with nothing to go off other than visuals, she seemed to fit the bill too. 

Left: Official Poster, Right: Poster Edit by Netizens

I thought I'd be squealing with excitement over the first posters, but no, what happened! Whoever photoshopped this did Xiaolongnü very wrong. They say that first impressions last, and now I'm slightly worried that just like the posters, the final product will be inundated with excessive effects that do more harm than good. Update: Mao Xiaohui is currently trending no. 1 on weibo. No one is blaming the actress, but everyone is blaming whoever messed up her nose and fixing it for her. 

I also just realized that the English title is Candor Heroes, a word I learned from reading the Divergent books. Candor Heroes = Honest Heroes? 

Thomas Tong Mengshi as Yang Guo

Mao Xiaohui as Xiaolongnü

Vicky Wen Qi as Guo Xiang

Nikita Mao Linlin as Li Mochou 

Zong Fengyan as Jinlun Fawang

Tu Bing as Guo Fu

Shao Bing as Guo Jing

Gong Beibi as Huang Rong

Tong Chun Chung as Yi Deng Da Shi

Alex Fong as Huang Yao Shi

Su Qing as Lin Chaoying

Wang Qing as Yelu Qi

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