Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige Regrets Not Casting Tibetan Actor for Ancient One in ‘Doctor Strange’

May 20, 2021

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige now regrets whitewashing The Ancient One after casting Tilda Swinton instead of an Asian man in the 2016 movie “Doctor Strange.”

Revealed regrets: The 47-year-old head of Marvel Studios admitted that the studio made a mistake by casting Swinton.

Feige shared his thoughts with Men’s Health ahead of the release of Marvel’s first Asian-led superhero film, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”
“We thought we were being so smart, and so cutting-edge,” Feige said. “We’re not going to do the cliché of the wizened, old, wise Asian man. But it was a wake-up call to say, ‘Well, wait a minute, is there any other way to figure it out? Is there any other way to both not fall into the cliché and cast an Asian actor?’ And the answer to that, of course, is yes.”

What happened: The studio faced backlash after choosing Swinton — a Scottish white actor — to play a Tibetan man, according to Slash Film.

In a statement given to Mashable, Marvel Studios tried to defend this decision by declaring that The Ancient One title is “passed down through time, and in this particular film the embodiment is Celtic.”
Feige believed that gender-swapping The Ancient One was “exciting,” claiming that “it opened up possibilities, it was a fresh way into this old and very typical storyline.”

Featured Image via Marvel Entertainment

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