Tilda Swinton Addresses DOCTOR STRANGE Flak Over “Whitewashed” Role As 'The Ancient One'

We were intrigued by early reports that Marvel were mulling gender-swapping The Ancient One, but some people weren't happy that Tilda Swinton had landed the role. Check out her response.

By DCMarvelFreshman - Apr 21, 2016 08:04 PM EST

Filed Under: Doctor Strange

Now that the first mind-bending trailer for Doctor Strange has provided our first look at a bald Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One, among other things, the Oscar-winning actress was recently asked about the controversy surrounding her casting in the Marvel adaptation.

While many were enthused by the fact that a woman will be portraying the key player in the origin of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme, others were outraged that it is a Caucasian playing a character originally written as Asian. One might call this whitewashing.

“The script that I was presented with did not feature an Asian man for me to play, so that was never a question when I was being asked to do it,” Tilda Swinton told Den of Geek earlier today. “It all will be revealed when you see the film, I think. There are very great reasons for us to feel very settled and confident with the decisions that were made.”

In other words, trust in Marvel. Swinton continued, “We’re all really looking forward to seeing that film, myself included. I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s made of what we’ve done. We’re feeling really excited and it was a good feeling to make it.”

Directed by Scott Derrickson, Doctor Strange has Benedict Cumberbatch (Stephen Strange), Rachel McAdams (Christine Palmer?), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Baron Mordo), Amy Landecker, with Scott Adkins, Michael Stuhlbarg (Nicodemus West), Tilda Swinton (The Ancient One) and Mads Mikklesen, and the movie is scheduled to open in theaters on November 4, 2016.

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Tilda Swinton Addresses DOCTOR STRANGE Flak Over “Whitewashed” Role As 'The Ancient One'

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