Tenzin Younten and Tenzing Dhamdul
The Marvel Cinematic Universe and its parent company Disney have the stage set and have the opportunity to bring a big change in the film industry and that is by tackling the issue of ‘whitewashing’ in its upcoming Dr. Doom movies and cast Tibetans to play the roles of Monks of Dooms and even Mahatma Doom if he is to be part of the upcoming Marvel projects.
On 28th July at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios announced that the Russo brothers will return to direct the 2 upcoming Avengers movies: Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. But what took everyone back was when it was announced on stage that Robert Downey Jr. (who revealed himself) would return to play as Dr. Victor Van Doom popularly known as Dr. Doom. This character is the next biggest villain in Marvel’s upcoming phase but one thing that caught many fans and Tibetans in particular is how the origin of this very popular Marvel character like Dr. Strange is tied to Tibet, where the art of mysticism is closely associated with popularly.
The Marvel Universe is a goliath in the Hollywood and movie industry largely due to the fandom and the content they have been bringing out to the public. However, one has repeatedly seen how business and economics take the front stage even if it means straying away from the original story.
When the Marvel movie Dr. Strange was released, it was called out for its practice of Whitewashing, in particular the character of the Ancient One. Whitewashing in films is described as the casting of white Caucasian actors and actresses in roles originally meant to be characters of color, whereby it does not only dismiss the original characters but also their story and place of origin.
Marvel Comics has a long-standing practice of attaching the lore of its characters to Tibet especially when it comes to two prominent Doctor-themed characters Dr. Strange and Dr. Doom. In the Marvel comics, the mentors or Lama (as we call it in Tibetan) of both these Marvel characters are Tibetans and of Tibet origin with popular Marvel Fandom making it clear for us all as well. Dr. Strange’s mentor, the Ancient One, and Dr. Doom’s attendant, the Monks of Dooms were from Tibet and Tibetan in origin. The original writers described them clearly as from Tibet and Tibetans rather than Chinese.
Based on the original comic from which the storyline and the movie of Dr. Doom will blossom, it is visibly clear that the Monks of Dooms (a group of Tibetans monks residing in the Himalayans Mountains in Tibet) forged Dr. Doom’s iconic Armour in the Great Furnace of the Tibetan monastery and was also here he learned his mystic arts and skills from. This is a critical component of Dr. Doom’s origin story and is sure to receive much screen time similar to how the creation of Stormbreaker (Thor’s weapon to substitute Mjolnir) in the movie Avengers: The Infinity War was portrayed.
But the question lies in whether Marvel will be bold enough to confront its inner demons here and stay true to its source materials.
In the past, against all the backlashes of Marvel Universe’s whitewashing practices, they still decided to Whitewash the Ancient One in Dr. Strange’s movies with Caucasian Actress Tilda Swinton. The practices of whitewashing Tibetans and Asians off the big screen have far greater repercussions than simply denial of representation. The decision to remove and ignore Tibetans off the big screen is undoubtedly for profit over principle and further aid and abet CCP’s efforts to erode Tibetans and its unique identity. It’s an act of appeasement towards the CCP and being able to access their market, at what cost though? Rather than casting Tibetans and keeping the distinct originality of the films intact they till now have viewed it as a risky move that would affront or antagonize the People’s Republic of China. Marvel Studio to date has decided to remove Tibetans and its ties to Tibet entirely.
Doctor Strange’s writer when speaking on why Tibetans were cast off from the movies, admitted to placating PRC stating that 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.’
It is unfortunate to witness such a big body kowtowing to Chinese demands and aiding them in spreading disinformation about Tibet. An agenda that was mentioned in the recently passed US law now titled ‘Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act’ popularly known as the ‘Resolve Tibet Act.’ With Marvel Studios being based in the USA, they would directly be violating this law if they were to act with Beijing’s consciousness. The Chinese Communist party-led government has used Hollywood and other big business entities including the NBA to spread their narrative with notable incidents being Tibet Supporter Richard Gere permanently being banned from China, the ‘Seven Years in Tibet’ and ‘Kundun’ movies, the career of NBA player Enes Kanter and more recently removing chunks of the famous cult movie ‘The Fight Club’ and US Congressmen Jim McGovern being sanctioned for supporting Tibet. Tibet an illegally occupied country by China continues to face severe repression, it has been named the least country according to Freedom House Report, 2024.
We the Tibetans, ethnic minorities, Asian communities, and Marvel comic book fans around the world demand Marvel Universe and Disney not whitewash Tibetan characters off from the upcoming Dr. Doom movies and cast Tibetans for the role of monks of Doom and Mahatma Doom. Moreover, erasing the representation of Tibetans within the Marvel Universe just to appease China is not art and directly contradicts what Walt Disney stood for.
(Views expressed are their own)
Tenzin Younten is an associate researcher at the Center for Contemporary Studies in Security and Technology (CCSST). He is a strategic and OSINT analyst specializing in the Chinese military, Tibetan studies, and human rights violations.
Tenzing Dhamdul is a Tibetan and a research associate at the New Delhi-based Foundation for Non-Violent Alternatives.
2 Responses
Good read and informative. Arts especially from big industries play a crucial role for our cause that often goes unnoticed. Thank you
What an amazing piece. I hope the marvel studio or Russo brother reads this and take action against China.