Benedict Wong on being MCU’s Wong: My ancestors are smiling
MANILA, Philippines — Benedict Wong’s Wong is “character development personified,” transitioning from librarian in the first Doctor Strange film in 2016, to Sorcerer Supreme in the Marvel Studios sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
In between, the 50-year-old British-Chinese actor has literally had an action-packed time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), showing up in four other movies, namely, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Pundits and fans alike have pointed out that no other MCU character has scored that many appearances in such a short span of time as Wong.
“Welcome to the WCU (Wong Cinematic Universe). We’ve entered into Phase Wong,” Wong joked during a virtual roundtable chat with Asia-Pacific press when asked about his increased presence in MCU, as well as role in “Phase 4” or Marvel Studios productions released from 2021 through 2023.
“We’re coming to the end of Phase Wong, sadly, everybody. But yeah, I feel very fortunate about this, especially being someone that’s collected these comics, Marvel comics, from a very young age, to finding myself being an actor,” he added.
Wong also felt proud to have embodied a character that subverted Asian stereotypes. MCU did away with the old source material of a servile Asian character and developed a new one with “a no-nonsense, midfield general-librarian that does not suffer fools gladly.” Because of that, Wong the character has also become a certified fan-favorite.
“Now, as we move through all the four or five films that I’ve starred in, you know, entering into cage fights, lending dulcet tones to singing Hotel California, and you know, picking up the gauntlet and becoming the Sorcerer Supreme — that’s a fantastic character progression really, especially being the first East Asian character in the MCU. We’ll see where it lies with the storylines,” Wong said.
In the second Doctor Strange film, the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. With the help of mystical allies both old and new, Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new enemy.
What was it like to reunite with Benedict Cumberbatch? “He’s like an old glove, a friendly old glove,” Wong said in a separate Q&A. “No, I mean, we’re always kind of interweaving back and forth through all these movies. He’s the national treasure that keeps on giving.”
He continued, “People get a chance to see Strange and Wong as this duo. Obviously, now the dynamics sort of change. Strange has gone from a student, borrowing books at the library, to realizing that Wong has now become the Sorcerer Supreme. And he’s seen him go through a lot over the years.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg and Rachel McAdams.
Meanwhile, with Doctor Strange 2’s “darker tone in the unknown territory” and “horror element,” Wong believes that there’s no finer filmmaker to helm it than Spider-Man director Sam Raimi. “I think audiences are going to be startled a lot, so brace yourself,” he added.
During the roundtable interview, Wong was paired with Xochitl Gomez who plays the Latin-American teen superhero America Chavez.
In the first few minutes of the film, audiences will see Strange, Wong and America crossing paths, after the latter finds herself being chased from one universe to another.
“She enters into our reality and Wong is very open-minded, but we’re trying to discover who this person is. He feels protective of her,” said Wong of his character’s reaction to America’s unexpected arrival.
In real life, the actor showed protectiveness towards “one of the youngest actors in the MCU.”
Wong further said of Xochitl: “It can be quite scary. I mean, it was scary for me to enter into this. For someone so young with so much on her shoulders, it’s good to kind of lift off the pressure and sort of guide her through this.”
He particularly came to the defense of the 16-year-old when asked about being the subject of bashing in relation to her LGBT character in the film, stressing online hate is “not okay.” (The movie also made headlines recently after Disney was requested by Saudi Arabia censors to edit out “lesbian references” before screening, as per a Variety report.)
Below are more excerpts from the interview where Wong addressed the matter, ahead of the Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness premiere today in Philippine cinemas.
On relating to his Wong character:
“Whatever role you find yourself in, you’re always constantly looking for those human aspects of, you know, in terms of Wong now being the Sorcerer Supreme, the level of greater responsibility that he has through that, and the duty and care he has for his students. So, he’s constantly protecting, he’s mentoring… You know, he’s the wiser one, and Strange is the way with Wong. So, that’s the kind of the relationship dynamic he has been.”
On fans’ clamor for Wong to get his own series or film:
“I mean, there’s been a number of people asking whether or not there could be a film or a series, you know. He disappeared for five years protecting the Sanctums and maybe that could be explored, but I’m living the dream at the moment starring in this. My ancestors are smiling, I’m playing the character called Wong, so in perfect alignment.”
On the impact of playing a Marvel superhero:
“When I first got the job, I checked out the old source material and you know, it was kind of (lacking in) much-needed updates. And when (producer) Kevin Feige walked in with executive producer Stephen Broussard, I was adamant that, you know, look, I’m not into playing any of this. And, we were all singing from the same sheets and that was not exactly where they wanted to go either.
“And you know, I’m thrilled to see where we’ve gone. For me, to be told by Sam Raimi when I had the first conference call with him when I was in Australia at the time, I didn’t have the scripts, I just had this legend of a man, doing his one-man show, telling me and saying, ‘And of course, you’re going to be the Sorcerer Supreme.’... To have someone else, a legend like Sam, tell me that I was gonna be the Sorcerer Supreme was a real coup for me.
“And yeah, I’ve been thrilled with every scene that’s happened with Wong and I’m so pleased that there’s a legion of ‘Wong-tourage fans.’ So, has (life) changed? Well, you certainly kind of get recognized a lot through this. There’s a lot of love there. It just shows how far-reaching Marvel is and how it connects with everybody and how important the role that they play in terms of representation, and the platforms and opportunities that they can offer much-needed diverse characters. All of a sudden, we have things like Shang-Chi, we have things like Ms. Marvel. We have things like America Chavez and Echo. People feel seen, people resonate with them, and that sends out ripples of positivity. And I’m all for that.”
On Xochitl being targeted by some online harassment and hate:
“It’s not okay. We have to all collectively understand globally that, you know, she auditioned at age 13 and she joined us at age 14, one of the youngest actors to join the MCU, a film of this magnitude.
“She’s just a young girl playing her role and full praise for that. That’s what she should be doing. So, there’s a real level of shame for all those trolls that are cowards, not to actually put their face on. They should feel a deep shame for what they’re doing.
“Let’s all just play nice. Let’s all just kind of like, enjoy what we’re doing, what we are representing. It’s sad that fans in that country won’t get a chance to see this as yet. But you know, all we are doing is radiating representation, voicing the voiceless. That’s all that we can do and represent people so that they can be seen.”
(Check out https://movies.disney.ph for screening schedules.)
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