Photo by Michael Buckner

"Runaways" writer Brian K. Vaughan

Marvel Studios' upcoming film "Runaways" just got a lot less controversial. Responding to pressure from Asian-American groups, the studio announced today that it intends to cast an Asian-American woman in the role of Nico Minoru. In a letter to the website Racebending.com, Marvel said it had changed the casting notice for the film to specify that the character will be Asian-American and extended the deadline for taped audition submissions from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15. A previous version of the casting notice did not specify the character's race.

"To address your concern over casting for the role of Nico, as we do with all of our films, we intend to stay true to the legacy and story of the comic when casting these parts," the letter said. "Thus, our goal is to cast an Asian-American actress as depicted in the comic series, and the casting notice will be adjusted accordingly."

A spokesperson for Marvel confirmed the authenticity of the statement but declined to comment further.

"Runaways" is an adaptation of a Marvel comic series created by writer Brian K. Vaughan. It tells the story of a group of superpowered teenagers who discover that their parents are members of a secret supervillain organization. No release date for the film has been set.

The changes to the casting notice at www.smallfacescasting.com came as a result of dialogue between Marvel; its parent company, Walt Disney Studios; and Racebending.com, which first publicly criticized the notice Aug. 5. Marissa Lee, co-founder of Racebending.com, praised Marvel's "swift response" to concerns regarding the casting notice.

"Having an Asian-American hero like Nico realized on the silver screen will mean a lot to fans and to the Asian-American community," Lee said. "It's fantastic that Marvel is willing to break from Hollywood's long history of marginalizing performers of color."

Racebending.com was founded in 2008 to protest the casting of Caucasian actors in M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender." Its Facebook group boasts more than 8,000 members, and more than 1,000 people follow it on Twitter.