During a recent interview, Kevin Feige finally admitted that casting Tilda Swinton as ‘The Ancient One’ in 2016’s ‘Doctor Strange’ was nothing but an honest mistake! This statement formed a rather anticipated chin wag all over Hollywood.
The film producer has spoken to ‘Men’s Health’ recently and conversed with them for a cover story on ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’. The conversation also included talks about the casting of star Simu Liu in the movie and said the uproar over casting Swinton as the Tibetan magic arts guru was “a wake-up call.”
“We thought we were being so smart and so cutting-edge. We’re not going to do the cliche 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 cliche and cast an Asian actor?’ And the answer to that, of course, is yes,” Feige exclaimed.
“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 [Marvel Cinematic Universe] 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,” a statement issued at the time said.
The statements added, “We are very proud to have the enormously talented Tilda Swinton portray this unique and complex character alongside our richly diverse cast.”
At times Marvel was seemed to be accused of “whitewashing” but they shrug it off by claiming it to be a part of creative freedom and nothing else.
A source reported that the ‘Suspiria’ actor herself told the media that casting her was a tactic to avoid offensive racial stereotyping comments. On the other hand, a sequel to the 2016 film, ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, is presently programmed for March 25, 2022.