10 Biggest MCU Controversies Ever

During pre-production of Doctor Strange, the filmmakers were in a bit of a tight spot when it came to casting Stephen Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) mentor the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton).

In the comics, the Ancient One was an Asian male who adhered to many stereotypes of a "wise, Asian mystic" character, and so in an attempt to avoid creating an offensive portrayal, the Ancient One was reworked into an androgynous Celtic character, as played by the great Tilda Swinton.

In the years since, however, criticism of the character being "whitewashed" has ramped up considerably, to the point that Kevin Feige admitted last year that their approach was a mistake:

"We thought we were being so smart, and so cutting-edge... We're not going to do the cliché of the wisened, 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."

Similarly, director Scott Derrickson and Tilda Swinton herself have spoken with regret about how the situation turned out, and it's safe to say that the MCU won't be whitewashing any Asian comic book characters in the future, but rather find a way to reinvent them away from stereotypes.