Star Trek's George Takei Says Doctor Strange's Casting is "Insulting"

Over the weekend, Star Trek actor George Takei took it to Facebook to post a rant against Marvel's explanation for casting Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in the Doctor Strange film, calling their reason a "red herring".

"This backpedaling is nearly as cringeworthy as the casting," Takei said. "Marvel must think we're all idiots."

In response to the comments by screenwriter Robert Cargill, Takei wrote: "Marvel already addressed the Tibetan question by setting the action and The Ancient One in Kathmandu, Nepal in the film. It wouldn't have mattered to the Chinese government by that point whether the character was white or Asian, as it was already in another country. So this is a red herring, and it's insulting that they expect us to buy their explanation. They cast Tilda because they believe white audiences want to see white faces. Audiences, too, should be aware of how dumb and out of touch the studios think we are."

Takei makes a great point about this whole "white-washing" decision. Takei's statement reminds me of Ming Na-Wen's comment about Scarlett Johnansson's casting as Motoko Kusunagi in the upcoming live-action Ghost in the Shell film.

Doctor Strange is set to release in theaters on November 6, 2016.