Kevin Feige Regrets Casting Tilda Swinton Instead of an Asian in ‘Doctor Strange’

The controversy across the casting of Scottish actor Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One in the “Doctor Strange” film was a “wake up call”, says Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige. Swinton’s casting because the character, who was initially Tibetan in the comedian books, drew flack from lots of Asian actors and visibility teams forward of the discharge of the Benedict Cumberbatch-led 2016 superhero film. At the time, Marvel Studios defended the casting citing “inventive freedom”, but Feige now believes the company could have handled the situation better. “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,” he informed Men’s Health for a canopy story on the upcoming Asian-led Marvel movie “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” . “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 added.