(For those unfamiliar with the Kobayashi Maru, clearly more Star Trek is needed; it's a training scenario for Starfleet cadets in the mythology that is famously impossible to win.)

Cargill continued by describing the comic book incarnation of the Ancient One as "a racist stereotype who comes from a region of the world that is in [a] very weird political place. He 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 bullshit 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.' "

An alternate possibility, of casting an Asian actor or actress in the role, is also dismissed by Cargill. "If you are telling me you think it’s a good idea to cast a Chinese actress as a Tibetan character, you are out of your damn fool mind and have no idea what the f— you’re talking about," he said. "Oh, 'she could be asian!' Asian? She could be Japanese, she could be Indian, really? The levels of cultural sensitivity around this thing is, everyone is staking out their one particular place and not realizing that every single thing here is a losing proposition."

Cargill credited director Derrickson with making the decision to cast a woman in the role. "There's not a lot of talk about, 'oh man, they took away the job from a guy and gave it to a woman.' Everybody kind of pats us on the back for that and scold us for her not being Tibetan," he said. "And that's just the way it's going to go. We knew that the Social Justice Warriors would be angry either way."

Doctor Strange opens Nov. 4.