China has set release dates for two films from Marvel studios in February, thus ending three years of unofficial ban on the films of this cinematographic universe in the cinemas of the Asian giant. The official Marvel account on Weibo -similar to Twitter, censored in China- published on Tuesday night the posters of the films Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Y Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania with the Release dates for Chinese moviegoers.The new Ant Man movie, which opens the so-called Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universewill premiere on February 17 along with the rest of the world, unlike Black Panther, which will do so on February 7, four months after it appeared on international billboards in November 2022. With this announcement, Chinese fans of the MCU could once again enjoy the stories of the superheroes of This franchise owned by Disneyfollowing the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home in December 2019.
The reasons behind Chinese censorship
The Chinese authorities never officially explained the reason why titles like Eternals, Thor: Love and Thunder Y Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings they never obtained permission to be reproduced in Chinese theaters. However, various causes have been pointed out for this possible veto, such as the criticism from members of the cast or production of the policies of the Asian country, the stereotypes of chinese culture represented in any of the movies or even some LGBT scene within the footage.
Before this situation, which coincided in time with the ‘zero covid’ policy imposed in China during the pandemic and which in practice ended on January 8, the UCM productions were well received by Chinese moviegoers. .The Ant-Man and Black Panther prequels once grossed $121.2 million and $98.9 millionrespectively, in the cinemas of the Asian giant, but nothing comparable to the 623.3 million dollars obtained by Avengers: Endgame. The news of these releases on Chinese soil is given while Avatar: The Shape of Water, the film that apparently broke the ban on Hollywood blockbusters, it has grossed more than $200 million in theaters across the country. Beijing limits the number of foreign films shown in Chinese theaters using a quota system designed to only allow 34 productions to be shown per year, exempting co-productions.
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