Tilda Swinton Cast as The Ancient One

[Hellion]

It has already began.

Do it right...

LOL...

 

[Dasher10]

So what was so wrong with The Ancient One being an Asian male that they had to make her a white woman?

Marvel so far only changed the race of Heimdall and Jack Taggart and I didn't mind in the former case because Elba owned the role. All that I can say is that if your character doesn't resemble the source material at all, then they better do a very, very good job.

 

[Parker Wayne]

I can't wait until nerds start acting like the Ancient One is their favorite character of all time so they can act offended by this.

So what was so wrong with The Ancient One being an Asian male that they had to make her a white woman?

Marvel so far only changed the race of Heimdall and Jack Taggart and I didn't mind in the former case because Elba owned the role. All that I can say is that if your character doesn't resemble the source material at all, then they better do a very, very good job.

I wouldn't worry about that with Tilda.

 

[Mister J]

I think Swinton would be outstanding in whatever role. Just get her signed.

 

[Eddie]

So what was so wrong with The Ancient One being an Asian male that they had to make her a white woman?

Marvel so far only changed the race of Heimdall and Jack Taggart and I didn't mind in the former case because Elba owned the role. All that I can say is that if your character doesn't resemble the source material at all, then they better do a very, very good job.

And Sitwell, and Quake, and Ben Urich, etc.

This is not a first for Marvel. While I personally would have leaned toward an Asian heritage actor for the role, it has been obvious for some time that Marvel was looking ro mix it up a little on this one. People point to Watanabe as a comic accurate candidate, but being Japanese is not the same thing as being Tibetan. Marvel was looking for something besides skin tone on this one.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

whoa! awesome if true. Tilda could play a piece of bread and be outstanding in it. If a non-asian actor takes the role of TAO, I'm glad it is Tilda. This is fantastic, inspired casting

 

[marcvader]

Love this Swinton rumor.

 

[regnak]

It's Marvel so everyone will be fine about it while at the same time being outraged at others doing the same thing

This is a double whammy really. Change race and change gender. Only next step would be to change species

I am a big MCU fan and I hate this idea. Dr. Strange starts with a diverse cast. don't change anyone's race/sex and you will be fine. You also please purists which I am here an easy win, win.

 

[Suzanne78]

This is actually kinda hilarious, since didn't someone suggest her in one thread as Strange himself? I really like it. Could see her dishing out mystical wisdom.

ME, ME, OMG I DID!!!

I am not really happy with the whitewashing (obvi, TAO won't be Tibetan...) but, GET IT QUEEN SWINTON. Here, I don't mind the whitewashing necessarily, b/c TAO is such a stereotype, and I don't know if there is a way around that.

Seriously, I had a heart attack when I saw the headline. I just need Ejiofor to be confirmed, and I might be even more excited for this movie than CW...

(Okay, that's not entirely true )

 

[BatsDC]

Oh wow, I had totally forgotten Ejiofor is (probably) in this too. Yeah, this is easily one of the best casts in any MCU movie. Hell, any CBM.

So if we're assuming Ejiofor will be Mordo, who could play Dormammu and Wong?

 

[Suzanne78]

Reddit rumored (GOS) that Ejiofor was possibly Jericho Drumm, not Mordo. Now, I'd actually prefer for him to be Mordo, because I'm drooling at the prospect of seeing him go toe-to-toe with BC and TS, so long as he survives/is sent to another dimension at the end.

Or, y'know... They could just recast Strange with Ejiofor and REALLY make me happy!

The way I see it, Marvel was damned if they do/damned if they don't with casting for TAO. Fill it with a white dude, people would be going after them hard. Cast a POC, people would still be angry they were casting a "magical, mystical minority" character. People will be angry with the race-bending, but really, changing the role to cast Swinton? Yeah, here for it. So much.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

Oh wow, I had totally forgotten Ejiofor is (probably) in this too. Yeah, this is easily one of the best casts in any MCU movie. Hell, any CBM.

So if we're assuming Ejiofor will be Mordo, who could play Dormammu and Wong?

As I mentioned in the Wong thread, my frontrunner would be John Cho.
I'm not so sure Ejiofor will be Mordo. I could see him as Dormammu or Brother Voodoo as well

 

[Dr. Evil]

As I mentioned in the Wong thread, my frontrunner would be John Cho.
I'm not so sure Ejiofor will be Mordo. I could see him as Dormammu or Brother Voodoo as well

Ejiofor is rumored to play the latter.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

Ejiofor is rumored to play the latter.

Well, it is only speculation really, since Ejiofor might not even be in the movie. The rumor that he was in talks to appear is about half a year old now and we heard nothing about it since.

 

[Son of Coul]

ME, ME, OMG I DID!!!

I am not really happy with the whitewashing (obvi, TAO won't be Tibetan...) but, GET IT QUEEN SWINTON. Here, I don't mind the whitewashing necessarily, b/c TAO is such a stereotype, and I don't know if there is a way around that.

Seriously, I had a heart attack when I saw the headline. I just need Ejiofor to be confirmed, and I might be even more excited for this movie than CW...

(Okay, that's not entirely true )

Wishes do come true-ish!

And yeah, whitewashing is one thing, but when it's an archetypal asian role that rings bells of the "Magical Negro" trope we've seen time and time again, it's no biggie - unlike if they were to whitewash a lead, multi-dimensional character who feels more like a real person.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

Or, y'know... They could just recast Strange with Ejiofor and REALLY make me happy!

 

[RockSP]

So if we're assuming Ejiofor will be Mordo, who could play Dormammu and Wong?

Don't know but they'd better be British, just to keep the trend going...

 

[Eddie]

Don't know but they'd better be British, just to keep the trend going...

So Jon Foo for Wong and Jason Isaacs as Dormammu, then?

 

[RockSP]

So Jon Foo for Wong and Jason Isaacs as Dormammu, then?

 

[Strangefan]

I find Tilda an interesting choice, once I thought of it. I could see her playing TAO who had already passed, and has been teaching Strange from the Astral plane. So it might be more of a genderless spirit, rather than whitewashing and gender switching.

 

[Mysteryman]

I Think it is a BRILLIANT idea to cast Swinton as TAO.
I hope it happens.

 

[Silvermoth]

Tilda as doctor strange would be amazing. As the ancient one, I don't know. Why didn't they get someone like gong Li if they wanted to rule 63 it? I definitely agree with more cool women in the marvel u.

I was actually just thinking about how all the male superheroes have male mentors and it might be nice to see a woman mentor (as well as heroes of course) especially since they've mainly been voiceless in the past (like Martha Wayne) but yeah, this is quite interesting.

I guess they might want to move the story away from the mystical East kind of stereotype and into an astral plane type scenario and then have Wong as an argument against claims of deasianifying it

 

[Pink Ranger]

As an Asian male, I would have found this offensive if it was Kate Hudson, Malin Akerman or Megan Fox, but Tilda Swinton, yeah, that's transgressive and credible enough to be defended as a creative decision rather than a typical Hollywood "****-the-Chinamen" move.

 

[Solaire]

Can't say I'm a fan of the change. Don't have a ton of knowledge of the Ancient One but still, would've rather them try to portray it like it is in the comics. Cool with some tweaks here and there but nothing this drastic.

Is this a topic where if you're against it you get bashed? Kinda new to things like this?

 

[Loki882]

It occurs to me that we don't have many male characters in comics that are mentored/inspired by female characters. In fact, I'm having trouble even thinking of one. By contrast, we have plenty of female heroes who are mentored/inspired by male characters. So yeah, that's another pretty blatant example of the gender-imbalance in comics.