Doctor Strange

There has been recent controversy over the upcoming Doctor Strange movie which will feature Tilda Swinton as the Ancient one. In the Marvel comics, the Ancient One is an elderly Asian man who is the mentor of Doctor Strange.


Many fans are upset that someone Asian will not be playing the role of the Ancient One and have accused Hollywood of whitewashing media once again. However Scott Derrickson, the director of the upcoming film, argues that Tilda Swinton playing this role is a good thing. The Ancient One being a Asian man is a stereotype in itself. It's bound to upset some people. The casting of The Ancient One is also political. The Ancient One is originally from Tibet in the comics. At the moment, China considers Tibet to be a part of their nation. Contrary to China's belief, Tibet sees itself as independent from China. So if The Ancient One was cast as Chinese, that in itself could be seen as a political statement supporting China and would upset anyone who disagrees. But if the Ancient One was cast as Tibetan, that would also be perceived as a political statement and would upset China. Therefore, the director decided that casting a woman in a strong, leading role and avoiding politics altogether was best for the film. Unfortunately, they did not succeed in avoiding offending Asian Americans. People understand the reasons behind the Director's decision. But still argue that if they only wanted to avoid controversy, they could've cast The Ancient One as white and Doctor Strange as Asian American. If you ask me, I think that would've been a great idea. I think the only true reason that The Ancient One wasn't cast as Asian is because upsetting China would cost the movie a lot of money. China, being one of the biggest and arguably most important nation in the global box office, is being catered to. In the end, it's less about what people want and more about the money.