Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to be banned in China over openly gay characters: report

• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever could be the latest Marvel Studios film to be banned in China.

• According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will likely be blacklisted along with DC’s Black Adam.

• A queer relationship featured in the film could be the reason why the film may never be released in Chinese theaters.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever may have hit theaters worldwide on Friday, but its fate in China has yet to be determined.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios’ latest superhero installment is unlikely to be shown in Chinese cinemas – the leading theory is its inclusion of openly gay characters. As Insider previously reported, Wakanda Forever reveals that Dora Milaje members Ayo (Florence Kasumba) and Aneka (Michaela Coel) are dating. The two also date in Marvel’s 2016 comic book Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Disney, the owner of Marvel Studios, did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

But if the second Black Panther film is blacklisted by China’s censorship board, it will join a long list of other Marvel Studios films that have suffered the same fate.

Fortune reports that “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” are among the currently banned superhero films in China.

“No Way Home” — a Sony and Marvel production — was approved by the local film administration in China but was never given a release date, Business Insider reported. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the leading theory was that there was too much symbolism of American patriotism, namely the Statue of Liberty.

Meanwhile, Deadline reported that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was criticized for a scene at a newsstand by The Epoch Times that opposes the Chinese government.

Following its September 2021 US release date, “Shang Chi” was not given a release date in China — likely due to comments made about the country by Simu Liu, the film’s lead actor, in 2017, Business Insider reported.

The story goes on

The film was also embroiled in controversy over the title character’s comic book history, as it featured a character who is now believed to have perpetuated racial Asian stereotypes when it was first released.

In June, Disney’s Lightyear, a prequel to the Toy Story franchise, was also banned in China after the production company refused to edit scenes that included a same-sex kiss in the film. As of November, the film has no release date in China, according to IMDb.

At the time, Chris Evans, who plays the lead, told Variety he was “frustrated” that the inclusion of queer characters was even a point of contention. “The goal is for us to get to a point where it’s the norm and this doesn’t have to be new territory, eventually this is just the way it is,” he said.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Brothers’ latest DC Comics superhero film, Black Adam, will likely never hit Chinese theaters either. The outlet reports that there is speculation that a photo Pierce Brosnan, who stars in the film as Kent Nelson/Doctor Fate, took with the Dalai Lama two years ago was behind the ban.

Warner Brothers did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

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