Kevin Feige has revealed his regrets in casting Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in Doctor Strange, admitting that he should have looked for a way to cast an Asian actor in the role without resorting to the stereotypical depictions of the character seen in the comic books.

At the time, the decision was justified in canon by explaining that much like the title of Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One was a mantle passed down to many people throughout history, with the movie’s director Scott Derrickson crafting the part specifically for Swinton under the assumption that avoiding the Fu Manchu-esque connotations of Doctor Strange’s mentor was the smartest way to avoid controversy.

Swinton might be one of the finest talents of her generation, but her casting still drew criticism from many quarters, even if the actress outlined in the buildup to release that she’d never been asked to play an Asian character, nor would she have accepted such a role either.

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Image via Marvel

Based on his track record as the brains behind the most commercially successful franchise in the history of cinema and current role as President of Marvel Studios and Chief Creative Officer for Marvel Comics, Marvel Television and Marvel Animation, Feige’s hits drastically outweigh his misses, but in an interview with Men’s Health (via /Film) he acknowledged this casting was a misstep.

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"We thought we were being so smart, and so cutting-edge. 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.”

It’s a somewhat similar situation to that of The Mandarin, another potentially harmful Asian stereotype that was incorporated into Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 via the big reveal that the terrorist leader was jobbing actor Trevor Slattery all along. However, Marvel One-Shot All Hail the King retconned that twist by confirming that the Mandarin was very real and not too happy about someone using his name for their own agenda.

Tony Leung will play the role of The Mandarin in September’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, although his origins have again been tweaked slightly, with the legend of Hong Kong cinema starring as Wenwu, the father of Simu Liu’s title hero. That in itself is another necessary deviation when Shang-Chi was initially introduced into comic book continuity as a child of Fu Manchu.

Swinton did briefly return as the Ancient One as part of Avengers: Endgame’s time heist, but she’s not expected to be involved in Sam Raimi’s sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which hits theaters next March.

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