Some comic book purists may have been upset when it was announced that actress Tilda Swinton would be playing the Ancient One in Marvel's DOCTOR STRANGE. But Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige spoke to Entertainment Weekly and fully disclosed why he and director Scott Derrickson went the route of changing the gender and race of the character in the movie.
“We’re never afraid to change... In the comic books, Jarvis is an elderly butler. In the movies, he’s an A.I. system which becomes Paul Bettany’s Vision. We are always looking for ways to change. I think if you look at some of the early incarnations of the Ancient One in the comics, they are what we would consider today to be quite, sort of, stereotypical. They don’t hold up to what would work today. Also, within the storyline of the comics, and our movie, ‘the Ancient One’ is a title that many people have had. We hit very early on on, What if the Ancient One was a woman? What if the title had been passed and the current Ancient One is a woman? Oh, that’s an interesting idea. [Clicks fingers.] Tilda Swinton! Whoah! And it just hit.”
So there you have it. According to Marvel comic book mythology, there's been many different people who have been the Ancient One. And Swinton is just the next in a long line of the powerful mystic.
DOCTOR STRANGE releases on November 4, 2016.
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[Editorial Note: Image is of Swinton in 'Only Lovers Left Alive.']