Marvel Releases Statement Addressing DOCTOR STRANGE Casting

@MattBellissimo - My bad, i'll never doubt you again, i swear !

@Mrcool210 - Urgh.

You seem to forget, they actually did the Mandarin - and he was perfect and they threw it all away as having it be just a joke. I have heard virtually no complaints about the Iron Man 3 potrayal of the Mandarin (Trevor) other than the complaints against him not being the actual Mandarin.

Heck, China had a cut of Iron Man 3 that purposefully added extra scenes of a Chinese character and the film still included the Mandarin and the film was a huge success.

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The basic point is that we've had multiple incarnations of 'The Mandarin' and 'The Ancient One' over the years and rather than adapt any of the newer non-stereotypical versions for Doctor Strange they decided to make excuses because the original, the version that has been heavily changed, was stereotypical.

It would be like saying "A superman film would be stupid because all the character does is jump around" despite Superman having evolved through comics. The Ancient One and the Mandarin have both evolved past the stereotype to become more widely accepted and while some may choose to view them as just a stereotype, Marvel keeps bringing them back in comics and TV shows because they are popular characters and it knows how to portray them to avoid the stereotypes.

@Mrcool210 -
"they seem to try to update the 1960s versions of these characters"

Marvel draws aspects from all of the versions of the character throughout comics.

"he was more akin to a modern day terrorist"

Terrorists are essentially the Iron Man film's way of portraying the Ten Rings and the Mandarin. This was established in Iron Man, so him being represented as a Terrorist is actually heavily accurate to his portrayal and build-up in the previous films. All three variations of the Mandarin in the MCU have been portrayed as terrorists while using the title of 'The Mandarin.

"with the mandarin they didn't do that"

They did update the Mandarin though, we have now three different versions of the Mandarin in the MCU;

- 'The Mandarin' played by Trevor Slattery, a corruption of different ideologies. Having the design adapted from the original Mandarin.

- 'The Mandarin' and Mastermind of the plot of Iron Man 3, Aldrich Killian who had certain aspects of the Mandarin also such as varying tattoo's and is similar to a recent portral of The Mandarin as a Businessman.

- The Mandarin, who is an unseen character, the true leader of the Ten Rings and an ancient warrior who has only been mentioned. His design inspired Killian's creation of his 'Mandarin'

"and you especially can't do that with the ancient one now."

They could have updated the character and found ways to avoid the stereotypes, as i mentioned in another comment though shall post here;

- Have the Ancient One avoid the stereotypical tropes and give the character an emotional journey of their own in which they accept Doctor Strange despite his obvious flaws and despite not trusting him at the start open up to him. Emphasise his nature as a wise teacher

- Do not mention where he comes from, and if questioned, have the character mention that their magical connection allowed them to evolve beyond races or nationalities. That way not only do they avoid giving a specific location so nobody would be offended, but it also promotes the idea of accepting someone despite their age, location of birth or whatever.

@MattBellissimo - Soooo yes? Bcoz i DO, i'm Italian!
No, seriamente! :P