Kevin Feige says he regrets not casting an Asian actor in Tilda Swinton's Doctor Strange role

When casting was first announced for 2016's Doctor Strange, one choice immediately sparked controversy: casting Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One. In the comics, the sorcerer was always depicted as an Asian man, and the news that Swinton, a white actress, would be tackling the role raised eyebrows — especially in light of Hollywood's long, ugly history of perpetuating harmful Asian stereotypes and whitewashing Asian characters.

At the time, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson defended Swinton's casting as an attempt to avoid racist Asian stereotypes. But now, in a new interview with Men's Health, Feige admits that Marvel made a mistake.

"We thought we were being so smart and so cutting-edge," Feige told the magazine. "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."

Back in 2016, Derrickson said he deliberately cast Swinton as an attempt to "subvert racial stereotypes and to create the best possible diversity within the cast." At the time, Marvel released a statement addressing the controversy: "Marvel has a very strong record of diversity in its casting of films and regularly departs from stereotypes and source material to bring its [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."

Feige's admission comes as Marvel is a few months away from releasing Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, its first film with an Asian superhero protagonist. Chinese Canadian actor Simu Liu plays the hero Shang-Chi, and the film will hit theaters Sept. 3.

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