MOVIE NEWS – We couldn’t believe our eyes at the level of censorship that Communist China, now in 2022, still wants to impose on anything that belongs to the idea of human freedoms, and that includes Spider-Man: No Homecoming includes the requested censorship of an iconic scene from Spider-Man.

However, the Chinese request for censorship has not been granted, as Sony has refused China’s request to censor Spider-Man: No Way Back to remove footage of the Statue of Liberty for its local release. Yes, the communist dictatorship in China is still that ‘strict’.

According to Puck, citing several insider sources, the Chinese authorities wanted Sony and Marvel Studios to remove the American landmark, which is featured predominantly in the climax of No Way Home. Sony reportedly refused “immediately”, leading to a change in the request, which would keep the Statue of Liberty in the film but change the way it is depicted. China reportedly wanted the building to be de-emphasised and asked Sony to cut out the “more patriotic shots of [Tom] Holland standing on top of the crown”. After considering the changes, the request was eventually rejected. Finally, Spider-Man: No Way Home was not released in China.

Sony’s refusal to make changes to Spider-Man’s latest big-screen adventure is just one of several recent instances where the Marvel Cinematic Universe has refused to modify a film based on requests to remove certain aspects. Several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kuwait, have banned Doctor Strange – A Multiverse of Madness because it featured an openly gay character. China is also reported to have banned the film after a message criticising the Chinese Communist Party was observed in one of the trailers.

China’s history of banning Marvel Studios blockbusters goes back further than Spider-Man: No Turning Back. In 2021, the film Eternals was similarly banned in the country, as the Chinese government resented director Chloé Zhao’s public criticism of the Chinese Communist Party. In addition, Eternals also featured a same-sex couple, Phastos and her husband Ben, kissing on screen.

Despite not being released in China, Spider-Man: No Way Home quickly became one of the most successful films of all time. The third Spider-Man film in the MCU is currently the sixth highest-grossing film of all time, beating the likes of Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Titanic, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Behind the Avengers: Infinity War.

Spider-Man: No Way Home, Holland’s wall-crawler sets out to restore his secret identity and asks Doctor Strange to wipe the memory of the entire world. After he interferes with the spell, several multiverse visitors appear in the MCU, including previous film incarnations of Spider-Man, played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

In Spider-Man: No Turning Back is available to purchase digitally and in 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD formats, as well as being available on Disney Plus streaming service (currently only available in Hungary via VPN).

Source: CBR