Marvel’s dominance in movie theaters had already hit a snag when Middle Eastern countries placed a ban on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for its use of pro-LGBTQ dialogue. Now, China may follow in its footsteps by censoring the movie due to an Epoch Times newspaper stand seen in the film’s beginning.
“The Epoch Times” can be seen written in Chinese characters on the side of a yellow newspaper stand as Doctor Strange fights a one-eyed monster named Gargantos. Screenrant.com notes that ComicCon screened 20 minutes of the film, and The Epoch Times kiosk is said to be barely noticeable.
According to Deadline Hollywood, Chinese authorities are reviewing Multiverse of Madness, and approval for release has not been granted or denied as of yet.
An article in China’s state-run media outlet Global Times accused the Doctor Strange movie of “shaming the U.S. and Hollywood” by including the newspaper kiosk. The article also “went to great lengths to slander The Epoch Times,” The Epoch Times reports.
The Chinese and English language versions of The Epoch Times are banned in China, allegedly because the news agency’s coverage of current affairs reflects negatively on the Chinese Communist Party.
Additionally, the founders of the news outlet are Falun Gong practitioners, a movement that has fallen into disfavor with the regime.
Once supported by the Chinese Communist Party, the Falun Gong practice came to be viewed as a threat in the mid-1990s because of its spiritual teachings and its growing following. Falun Gong requires followers to aspire to eliminate attachments, live truthfully, and ultimately achieve spiritual enlightenment.
In 2013, four minutes of extra scenes were added to the local version of Marvel’s Iron Man 3 to grease the wheels with Chinese censors. One addition included product placement of a Chinese brand of milk in a commercial-esque scene advertising its health benefits for Iron Man. Another added a discussion between Chinese movie stars playing doctors who talk about performing surgery on the superhero.
In the past, China refused to release several Marvel films due to international laws or censorship issues, including Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Author Chris Fenton, an expert on Hollywood’s strained relationship with China, questioned whether the placement of The Epoch Times stand in the Marvel movie was unintentional.
Fenton explained his experience working on Iron Man 3 gave him insider knowledge of Marvel’s working practices. The author explained between 200 and 300 people will have worked on the set of Doctor Strange. Further, 200 to 300 people work on post-production, including examining the footage for problems.
“So the idea that the 200 to 300 people on set that day, and the 200 to 300 people in post-production over the course of post-production, didn’t notice The Epoch Times vending stand in there, it seems very far-fetched,” Fenton said.
If Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is banned from China’s theaters, it likely will not significantly impact its box office numbers. The latest Marvel movie has already sold $42 million in advanced ticket sales.
Marvel’s last release, Spider-Man: No Way Home, also had censors sounding the alarm because the ending featured the Statue of Liberty, which Chinese regulators asked to be removed from the scene. When the movie distributor, Sony Pictures, refused, they asked to dim the statue’s lights; however, Sony declined to do that also. The film has not been released in China.