It seems that Marvel had decided to respond to the recent swirl of talk surrounding Tilda Swinton's casting as the Ancient One in the upcoming Doctor Strange film. The actresses' casting in the film has led to a few claims that the character is being "whitewashed" from the traditional Tibetan heritage of the comics character. A Marvel spokesperson issued a statement, defending both Swinton's casting and the vision of the MCU as a whole:
"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."
This isn't surprising, seeing as Kevin Feige has explained in numerous interviews that they are treating The Ancient One as a mantle that is passed down, as opposed to being one particular character. Doctor Strange writer C. Robert Cargill addressed this issue a few days ago on a podcast, saying the change was made as to not offend the Chinese government. "The Ancient One was a racist stereotype who comes from a region of the world that is in a very weird political place. He originates from Tibet, so if you acknowledge that Tibet is a place and that he's Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion people who think that that's bulls**t and risk the Chinese government going, 'Hey, you know one of the biggest film-watching countries in the world? We're not going to show your movie because you decided to get political.' If we decide to go the other way and cater to China in particular and have him be in Tibet... if you think it's a good idea to cast a Chinese actress as a Tibetan character, you are out of your damn fool mind and have no idea what the f**k you're talking about."
Swinton also briefly commented on her casting last week, saying, "Well, it's not actually an Asian character -- that's what I need to tell you about it. I wasn't asked to play an Asian character, you can be very well assured of that. You just have to wait and see, because it's not an Asian character." What do you think of Marvel's response? Sound off below!
About The Author:
Matt is a graduate of the Ryerson University School of Journalism, and has been a fan of superheroes since he picked up his first comic book issue as a child. While he works as a professional musician, Matt has a massive passion for comic books, films and heroes, along with participating in discussion and debate with the CBM community.