Marvel Cast Swinton as "Doctor Strange's" Ancient One for 'Creative,' 'Not Political' Reasons

[CBR News]

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige denied reports that Marvel changed the Ancient One's race due to pressure from China.


Full article here.

[Star_Jammer]

[superduperman]

China is pretty much funding the Marvel movies. Anybody else buying this?

[ShaunN]

I fully believe Feige when he says the Tilda Swinton decision was made for "creative" reasons not political That makes it even more shameful. Feige and Marvel should just admit they made an incredibly offensive mistake, learn from it, and never do it again. To take one of the few Asian characters in comics and turn it into a white actor is unbelievable in this day and age, and Marvel royally screwed up on this.

One of the reasons that I don't believe this was done for commercial reasons is that China would not care if the Ancient One was Tibetan. China certainly doesn't deny that Tibetans exist - it denies that they have their own state. As long as a Tibetan Ancient One was not somehow agitating for Tibetan independence, China would not care.

[JimRaynor55]

Exactly. The Ancient One is hardly a political character from what I know about him. China accepts Captain America even with current tensions between out countries.

I also hate the reasoning that because the Ancient One or the Mandarin were written with some outdated Asian stereotypes, the best solution was just to remove their Asian ethnicity. Here's a bold idea: take an Asian character, update him, and write him well.

As an Asian American male, it pisses me off that people like me are continuously erased from movies in the year 2016. Hollywood has a problem with Asians who aren't emasculated nerds, very minor supporting characters, or sexy and "exotic" women.

[Tofali]

Why can't he just keep mum? There is no way he can explain himself out of this mess. If he had the idea to modernize the manservant then he should have done the same thing to the "Ancient One" Stop with the excuses. By the way the race-bending of Mordo shouldn't be used to counter the problem ppl have with the casting of the Ancient One. Just do better in the future Marvel.

[CenturianSpy]

As a Disney stockholder I hope these decisions are made based on financial reasons and not creative or political. If Disney bean counters say that "Dr. Strange" and subsequently attached future Marvel movies will make more money with a Celtic-female Ancient One versus a canon-pure Himalayan man then they are doing their fiduciary responsibility. Although I believe the closer the movies are to canon the more successful they are. I feel this was an instance where they felt they needed a woman to balance the cast (Is Clea in this movie?). They have a black Baron Mordo, an Asian Wong, and of course the white Strange. It's the ridiculous desire to include races and genders (a form of political correctness) that causes these discussions. I would have preferred a well-written Himalayan man as the Ancient One. That being said, I'm sure Tilda nailed the role.

[t hedge coke]

China is pretty much funding the Marvel movies. Anybody else buying this?

Given that China, itself, in the middle of an effort to promote Tibetan film and stage talent at a national level? Yeah, I can believe that the decision to cast Asians only as servants and waitresses wasn't "because China."

[VivaChiba]

As a Disney stockholder I hope these decisions are made based on financial reasons and not creative or political. If Disney bean counters say that "Dr. Strange" and subsequently attached future Marvel movies will make more money with a Celtic-female Ancient One versus a canon-pure Himalayan man then they are doing their fiduciary responsibility. Although I believe the closer the movies are to canon the more successful they are. I feel this was an instance where they felt they needed a woman to balance the cast (Is Clea in this movie?). They have a black Baron Mordo, an Asian Wong, and of course the white Strange. It's the ridiculous desire to include races and genders (a form of political correctness) that causes these discussions. I would have preferred a well-written Himalayan man as the Ancient One. That being said, I'm sure Tilda nailed the role.

Like.

[Sighphi]

We didn’t want to play into any of the stereotypes found in the comic books, some of which go back as far as 50 years or more

ok.

Why not make the wisest bestower of knowledge in the universe to our heroes in the particular film a woman instead of a man?"

Wait, what?

So one of the most powerful wizards in this realm, the current sorc supreme is bad if the character is a Tibetan dude but a woman....that changes EVERYTHING!

"We made changes to some of the other key character in the comic for similar reasons," he added. "Specifically, casting Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo

Wait, there's a stereotype for Transylvanian lords that the people of Transylvania dont like?
Uuummm, pretty sure the people of T-ville are extremely OK with this. Im pretty sure they really love it.

We cast Tilda out of a desire to subvert stereotypes, not feed into them.

Again, need an explanation why one of the most powerful wizards is ok to be a woman but not an Asian man.

I mean, didnt freaking Iron Man have special Chinese scenes? Come on, come on.

[Growup]

I fully believe Feige when he says the Tilda Swinton decision was made for "creative" reasons not political That makes it even more shameful. Feige and Marvel should just admit they made an incredibly offensive mistake, learn from it, and never do it again. To take one of the few Asian characters in comics and turn it into a white actor is unbelievable in this day and age, and Marvel royally screwed up on this.

Feige said this (and Derrickson):

DEADLINE: As an Irishman myself, having the smartest person in the world be Irish seems OK.

FEIGE: The truth is, the conversation that’s taking place around this is super-important. It’s something we are incredibly mindful of. We cast Tilda out of a desire to subvert stereotypes, not feed into them. I don’t know if you saw [Doctor Strange director] Scott Derrickson’s tweet the other day. He said we’re listening and we’re learning, every day. That really is true. As long as we’re starting on this topic, it means so much to us that people know that. We also know that people expect actions and not words in a Q&A, and I’m hopeful that some of our upcoming announcements are going to show that we’ve been listening.

[MarvelMaster616]

I can understand this. Creatively, it makes sense to mix things up with the Ancient One. I've seen old comics depicting the Ancient One. Like some old Looney Toons cartoons, it's got some mildly racist overtones to say the least. If Marvel tried to match it, then chances are they would enrage the Asian community. So there's really no way they can win. It doesn't matter what their reasons are, even if they're valid. Social Justice Warrior types will whine and complain about it. If I were Marvel, I'd just let them. It's free advertising. As Deadpool as shown, that's often the best kind of advertising.

[AcesX1X]

a marvel rep already made official statements last week that it was a political decision. feige is just doing damage control, and doing an extremely poor job of it.

[RedvFury]

In my opinion, Mordo is just another token character (pulled straight from Feige's wallet) like Falcon and War Machine. And changing the race of the Ancient One is kinda messed up. I personally, would've liked if they chose another minority, one possibly female. Since black/Asian/Latino women for example, barely have any major role in any of these comic book movies. And that would've possibly lessened the commotion a bit. Heck, get a Tibetan woman. Yet, they make the one Asian male a servant. Why couldn't he be a woman too? Lol. So far, Marvel movies aren't as diverse as they could be. And they're making up nothing but excuses.

I await the one-shot, where they reveal the real Ancient One.

[Growup]

In my opinion, Mordo is just another token character (pulled straight from Feige's wallet) like Falcon and War Machine. And changing the race of the Ancient One is kinda messed up. I personally, would've liked if they chose another minority, one possibly female. Since black/Asian/Latino women for example, barely have any major role in any of these comic book movies. And that would've possibly lessened the commotion a bit. Heck, get a Tibetan woman. Yet, they make the one Asian male a servant. Why couldn't he be a woman too? Lol. So far, Marvel movies aren't as diverse as they could be. And they're making up nothing but excuses.

I await the one-shot, where they reveal the real Ancient One.

Falcon is awesome in Civil War, and Black Panther even more.

Mordo is probably a big role, since he is villain that start as an ally, he will probably be in several Doctor Stranges movies like Loki.

You have no idea how will be Wong.
Feige said this:

there’s a character named Wong, who is a very big part of comics, and we cast this amazing Asian actor [Benedict Wong] and modernized that role and his talents people will begin to see as materials on the film begin to come out.

a marvel rep already made official statements last week that it was a political decision. feige is just doing damage control, and doing an extremely poor job of it.

Officially, Marvel said this:

Marvel has a very strong record of diversity in its casting of films and regularly departs from stereotypes and source material to bring its MCU to life. The Ancient One is a title that is not exclusively held by any one character, but rather a moniker passed down through time, and in this particular film the embodiment is Celtic. We are very proud to have the enormously talented Tilda Swinton portray this unique and complex character alongside our richly diverse cast.