The boss of Marvel Studios has spoken out on accusations of whitewashing in the new Doctor Strange film.
Tilda Swinton was cast as the Ancient One - a character that has traditionally been presented as Tibetan - provoking outrage.
Director Scott Derrickson quickly spoke out, saying he is "learning" from the "raw anger" of those accusing his movie of whitewashing.
Now Kevin Feige has defended the decision, saying it was "creative" in motivation - not political (via Deadline).
He added that it was not an attempt to avoid offending China, as previously claimed by Doctor Strange writer C Robert Cargill.
Feige said: "The truth is, the conversation that's taking place around this is super-important. It's something we are incredibly mindful of. We cast Tilda out of a desire to subvert stereotypes, not feed into them."
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He added: "We didn't want to play into any of the stereotypes found in the comic books, some of which go back as far as 50 years or more. We felt the idea of gender swapping the role of The Ancient One was exciting.
"It opened up possibilities, it was a fresh way into this old and very typical storyline. Why not make the wisest bestower of knowledge in the universe to our heroes in the particular film a woman instead of a man?"
Feige also referred to alterations made to other characters, specifically one known as Wong.
He said: "We made changes to some of the other key characters in the comic for similar reasons. Specifically, casting Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo and there's a character named Wong, who is a very big part of comics, and we cast this amazing Asian actor [Benedict Wong] and modernized that role and his talents people will begin to see as materials on the film begin to come out."
