Tom Hardy rumoured for Disney’s Aladdin amid whitewashing claims

Tom Hardy could be up for a role in Disney’s ‘Aladdin’.

But it’s a bit of a sore subject…

According to The Sun, it looks as though Guy Ritchie is keen to see Tom Hardy in the role of Jafar – the iconic Disney villain.

“Guy Ritchie’s recent movies haven’t exactly set the box office alight,” they explain. “But he’s now hoping Tom Hardy might stop the rot. I can reveal the director has approached the Brit actor to appear in the live-action remake of Aladdin.”

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“Guy is a huge fan of Tom’s work and securing him would be a major coup,” said their source. “There have been conversations and, although nothing is set in stone and things are subject to change, he’s certainly one of Guy’s favoured choices.”

But there are already accusations of whitewashing.

In fact, many fans have condemned the casting choice, instead asking Guy Ritchie to consider casting an Asian actor in the role, instead.

“I love Tom Hardy, but him as Jafar is awful casting,” said one fan via Twitter. “Come on, whitewashing a character is not only wrong, it never works out for any movie.”

And another claimed that Tom Hardy is simply ‘too short’ to play Jafar, suggesting a number of other Asian actors who they feel would be more suited to the role.

But will these accusations be enough to put either of them off?

I can’t help thinking that Disney know better – especially following the recent whitewashing controversy surrounding Tilda Swinton’s casting in ‘Doctor Strange’. Not to mention, all of the casting calls so far have specifically asked for Asian actors.

Tom Hardy may sound like an excellent name to prop up the movie, it seems far more likely that Disney will be listening to the fans… and an Asian Jafar seems like a good bet.

But for now, we’ll have to wait and see.

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