George Takei gets real about 'cringeworthy' Marvel casting for 'Doctor Strange'

George Takei isn't happy about Tilda Swinton's casting in Marvel's Doctor Strange, and he wants all 9.7 million of his Facebook followers to know.

The actor posted a Facebook status lambasting the "cringeworthy" casting choice on Saturday. 

"So let me get this straight," he writes. "You cast a white actress so you wouldn’t hurt sales…in Asia? This backpedaling is nearly as cringeworthy as the casting. Marvel must think we’re all idiots."

In the upcoming film, Swinton plays "The Ancient One," a character of Tibetan heritage in the comics. Many fans have voiced outrage at the casting choice, disappointed that Marvel wouldn't cast an Asian actor. The film's writer, C. Robert Cargill, previously defended that choice. 

"[The Ancient One] originates from Tibet, so if you acknowledge that Tibet is a place and that he’s Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion people who think that that’s bullsh*t and risk the Chinese government going, ‘Hey, you know one of the biggest film-watching countries in the world? We’re not going to show your movie because you decided to get political," Cargill explained.

Takei's response seems to be directly aimed at Cargill's comments. 

In his Facebook post, Takei also responded to users who disagreed with him, elaborating on his disappointment with the casting.

"They cast Tilda because they believe white audiences want to see white faces," he says. "Audiences, too, should be aware of how dumb and out of touch the studios think we are."

He adds more after that. 

"To those who say, "She an actress, this is fiction," remember that Hollywood has been casting white actors in Asian roles for decades now, and we can't keep pretending there isn't something deeper at work here. If it were true that actors of Asian descent were being offered choice roles in films, these arguments might prevail. But there has been a long standing practice of taking roles that were originally Asian and rewriting them for white actors to play, leaving Asians invisible on the screen and underemployed as actors. This is a very real problem, not an abstract one. It is not about political correctness, it is about correcting systemic exclusion. Do you see the difference?"

A Marvel Studios spokesperson defended the casting in a statement to Mashable:

Marvel has a very strong record of diversity in its casting of films and regularly departs from stereotypes and source material to bring its MCU 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. We are very proud to have the enormously talented Tilda Swinton portray this unique and complex character alongside our richly diverse cast.

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