For major film franchises, China has always been regarded as a crucial market because it typically brings in huge box office receipts for studios. Disney, meanwhile, hasn’t had much success with its Chinese audience recently because two of its movies—Lightyear from Pixar and Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness—were banned in the nation. Another film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Love and Thunder, reportedly didn’t receive a Chinese release, continuing Disney’s unfortunate trend that began with Taika Waititi’s Thor.
The Chris Hemsworth-starring movie was forbidden because of its LGBTQ contents, which isn’t all that shocking given that Multiverse of Madness and Lightyear were both forbidden in Chinese cinemas for the same reason.
The publication claims that Thor: Love and Thunder is similarly reported to be blocked in China’s censorship process due to several short LGBTQ moments, containing hints that the character Korg is gay and Tessa Thompson’s character Valkyrie is bisexual.
Thor 4 is still doing well at the international box office and, according to the most recent statistics, the movie is getting close to $500 million worldwide despite the unfortunate ban. It is obvious that the China ban hindered its ability to surpass Avengers: Endgame‘s box office performance, but things are what they are.
Thor: Love and Thunder is still being shown in theaters. The movie will debut on Disney+ on August 22.
