director of the millennium

The Ancient One in the original "Doctor Strange" was actually very good. The British actress Tilda Swinton interpreted this role very well and left a deep impression on audiences around the world.

Wu Yuan never thought that Tilda Swinton's version of the Ancient One was bad. He also clearly remembered that Tilda Swinton's version of the Ancient One has always been an important member in a large number of Marvel movie mashup videos, and its influence is not much less than that of Doctor Strange.

He is even more popular than characters like Dr. Banner and Hawkeye in the first generation of Avengers!

But it would be better if this role was replaced by a Chinese man!
Just as the original Marvel comics set this character as a Chinese man born in a small village at the foot of the Himalayas, this setting is to highlight the mystery of this character.

The character of Ancient One first appeared in the comic book "Doctor Strange" (Strange Tales) No. 110, which was created in 1961.

In that era, China was undoubtedly still a country full of mystery to most Europeans and Americans, just like how the Chinese viewed Egypt.

That’s why Marvel gave this character such a setting, just to make Ancient One more powerful and mysterious.

It seems that in the eyes of foreigners, it is normal for an old Chinese man to be knowledgeable and mysterious.

It would undoubtedly be a pity if the movie version of "Doctor Strange" abandoned this setting.

There is no doubt that Tilda Swinton played this role very well and it really attracted the attention of audiences around the world, but a white Ancient One does lack a bit of mystery, at least in the eyes of Europeans and Americans.

The Ancient One is very popular in Asia, especially in China, and has always been among the most popular characters in Marvel movies, but this is only limited to China.

Although it is not known why Marvel chose to change the originally mysterious character into an ordinary white woman, it is a fact that in Europe and the United States, Ancient One cannot be found in the popularity rankings of Marvel movie characters.

Because in the eyes of foreigners, there is nothing special about the character of Ancient One. He is just a person who is there to guide Doctor Strange and then die.

The "mysterious" and "powerful" in the eyes of Chinese people do not exist in the eyes of European and American audiences. It's just that her bald head left a deep impression on people.

But it's different now.

Wu Yuan faithfully restored the Ancient One in Marvel Comics, and Wang Xueqi played the image of an old man with white hair and eyebrows and a Taoist appearance from China in the movie.

It is probably similar to the image he later played in "Under the Alien" as the old Taoist priest of Longhu Mountain, but of course it is a serious version. This image may not be very common for Chinese people. After all, whether it is Taishang Laojun in "Journey to the West" or the Taoist priests in various fairy tales, they all dress in this style.

But for foreigners, Wang Xueqi's version of Ancient One is really unique.

Except for a very small number of foreigners who are familiar with Chinese traditional culture, most of the guests attending the premiere subconsciously exclaimed when they saw the "immortal-like" Gu Yi in the movie.

In particular, the first meeting between Ancient One and Stephen Strange in the movie was full of style. First, he opened a space door to lead him directly in front of him, and then he calmly seemed to be able to see through Stephen Strange's heart and talked to him directly through a mental link, showing a mysterious magical world.

When most of the guests watched this scene, they felt the same as Stephen Strange in the movie. It was magical, so magical!
Especially when Ancient One handed Stephen Strange a cup of real Chinese tea and asked him to taste it, many people felt the urge to try it.

There is no doubt that the Ancient One in the movie perfectly fits most Europeans' imagination of the mysterious Chinese people.

Of course, it does not refer to modern Chinese people, but the Chinese people in European historical legends!
You know, during the Renaissance, there were a lot of legends about the Chinese in Europe, including the One Thousand and One Nights fairy tales. There were also many stories about imaginary Chinese people, most of whom were mysterious and powerful, reflecting the curiosity and yearning of Europeans at that time for the Far East.

It’s just that in modern times, the image of the Qing Empire has become so bad.

Now, the "legendary" Chinese people finally appear in a Hollywood movie!

Whether in Los Angeles or in London, the character of Ancient One became the hottest topic of discussion after the screening!
On the Internet in Europe and the United States, there have also been a large number of popular science introductions about the Ancient One in Marvel comics, which even overshadowed Doctor Strange at one point!
The actor Wang Xueqi has been brought into the spotlight again, and his popularity on the European and American Internet has skyrocketed!
In fact, before this, Wang Xueqi had already gained some fame in Europe and the United States. He became famous among a small number of science fiction fans through his earliest movie "Gravity", and then in "Inception", he replaced the Japanese businessman in the movie and showed his face around the world again.

Although he later became a character that only appeared in the China special edition of "Iron Man", this news was also reported on a large scale in Europe and the United States. Although it was negative news and there were many mocking voices, Wang Xueqi was indeed in the newspaper again.

Today, he is the Chinese actor whose fame in Europe and the United States is second only to Jackie Chan.

That is why when Wu Yuan asked him to play the Ancient One, Marvel had no objection.

This time, the role of Ancient One truly made Wang Xueqi remembered by European and American audiences!
On October 2016, 10, ten countries and regions including Belgium, Colombia, Finland, France, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Italy, South Korea, the Philippines and Poland took the lead in releasing "Doctor Strange" on a large scale!
This is one week earlier than mainland China and the United States!
Among these countries and regions, except for Hong Kong, China and South Korea, the local film markets of other countries are basically sluggish or have not yet developed. They have no means of resistance to the impact of Hollywood blockbusters!

As soon as "Doctor Strange" was released, it immediately topped the weekly box office champion throne!
Even many movie fans from mainland China, mainly die-hard fans of Marvel and online self-media who need to make advance film reviews, rushed to Hong Kong Island to go to the cinema to have a look. They want to know the first-hand plot of the movie so as to grab the hot spots of network traffic!
Every time a new Marvel movie is released, it is a carnival feast for the film industry around the world! (End of this chapter)