The following article contains spoilers forThor: Love and Thunder.Thor: Love and Thunderenjoyed a spectacular opening weekend worldwide, save for one massive market that’s constantly eluded the MCU for the past year, as China’s censorship policies have all but closed the door for the God of Thunder to land in the country.
Since 2019’sSpider-Man: Far From Home, no Marvel movie made either by Sony or Marvel Studios has gotten the green light from Chinese censorship bodies. Every MCU film sinceBlack Widowhas been blocked by Chinese censors, with bothVenom: Let There Be CarnageandMorbiussuffering the same fate. As to why that has been the case, while the Chinese government doesn’t explicitly state its motives, it’s been speculated many of these decisions have been due to instances of LGBTQ representation, backslash against the people participating in the films, or what the country sees as an unfavorable mix of culture and politics.
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Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, inThor: Love and Thunder’scase, Chinese censors are unlikely to ever grant Taika Waititi’s film a future release date due to a couple of scenes involving LGBTQ themes around characters like Valkyrie and Korg. The depiction of LGBTQ narratives in China is mostly prohibited, with the country only having decriminalized homosexuality in 1997 and health authorities backing down on its classification as a mental disorder as recently as 2011. Still, the Chinese Communist Party has gone as far as demanding less effeminate men in video games.
Thor: Love and Thunder’s controversial scenes would be those seemingly confirming Valkyrie as bisexual and Korg to be fathering a child with another male Kronan. This is much likeEternalscontaining a gay coupleandDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessfeaturing América Chávez, yet another LGBTQ superhero. InEternals' case, however, that adds up to China censoring all references to director Chloe Zhao due to remarks she made criticizing the government of her native country.
One thing is for sure, China’s list of reasons to ban Marvel movies has grown considerably since the Infinity Saga ended. For example,Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringshad to deal with unapproved depictions of Chinese mythology as well as negative comments from Simu Liu about China’s government, similarly toVenom: Let There Carnagestar Tom Hardy. ForBlack Widow, it was brief mentions of communism and inNo Way Home’s case it was the mere fact that the Statue of Liberty is part of the final battle, perhaps suggesting China simply no longer wants the MCU’s cultural influence within its borders.
On the bright side, Disney’s decision to sacrifice Thor’s profits and not cater to Chinese censors seems to have had a more positive effect on audiences in the rest of the world. A similar concept was proven byblockbuster films likeTop Gun: Maverick.
