Marvel’s superheroes returned to the big screen in China on Tuesday after a nearly four-year absence, with the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The films of Marvel Studios, owned by the American giant Disney, had disappeared from the Chinese dark rooms after the release in July 2019 of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
China only allows a few dozen foreign feature films to be released theatrically each year. For the Marvel mega-productions, immensely popular in the Asian country, this market is crucial: the release in Chinese theaters of the first film in the saga Black Panther generated $105 million.
“I’m so excited,” said a viewer who was queuing Monday night in Shanghai for the film’s midnight premiere.
“I had to use streaming sites to watch the previous two movies…but I hope I can watch Marvel movies more often in theaters from now on,” he added, without giving just his last name, Chen.
“Opportunity Is So Rare”
The end of this apparent blockade of Marvel movies in China comes as the country has just lifted its anti-Covid health restrictions, which have dealt a heavy blow to the country’s entertainment venues.
“Because of Covid, it has been a long time since we went to the movies,” said Kun, 25, a hospital worker who came to see the movie with friends. “We have to work tomorrow but the opportunity is so rare that we came.”
Lin Fan, who came with her 13-year-old son, Jiang Xiaoyi, is delighted to reconnect with a family tradition: “(Xiaoyi) has always been a Marvel fan, and during the Avengers series, we always went to see the premieres at midnight. “.
Reference to same-sex relationships
Next up for Chinese fans: the February 17 release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Chinese authorities have never explained why Marvel movies have suddenly disappeared from screens since 2019.
During this period, Disney had refused to abide by censors who demanded the removal of any reference to homosexual relationships in Marvel films, particularly the eternals in 2021 and Doctor strange in the multiverse of madness in 2022. But the American giant has also been accused of collaborating too much with Beijing.
Calls for a boycott had been launched, particularly in the West, against his new version of mulanbecause some scenes were shot in the Xinjiang region, long hit by deadly attacks and where the Chinese security campaign is accused of violating the human rights of the Muslim population.
two episodes of the Simpsons In the meantime, they have been removed from the Disney+ streaming service in Hong Kong. One referred to the crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen protests and the other referred to “forced labor camps” in China.
Source: BFM TV
