China has ruled to relieve a ban on movies from Sony based on the Marvel comics, which according to The Guardian, was placed around mid-2019. This meant that movies and TV series released after 2019, particularly in Marveĺ´s phase four plan, like “Spiderman: No Way Home,” “Loki,” “Wandavision,” and “Eternals” were banned in China. 

“I think that China would only ban movies which contain a lot of American patriotism,” AP U.S. History teacher Mr. Mark Cruthers said. Though, Cruthers added that China has indeed contributed to the creation of many American movies in the past.

The Guardian reports that it was suspected “Spiderman: No Way Home” was banned from China box offices because of scenes that were too patriotic towards America, including a scene of the Statue of Liberty. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” is another movie that was blocked, but it is believed to be because of the inclusion of a same-sex couple as well as a scene that contains the name of “The Epoch Times,” which is an essential newspaper for the communist party.

“I enjoyed ‘Spiderman: No Way Home’ a lot, and I´ve always heard good reviews about the movie,” Rancho Cucamonga High School junior Jacob Gonzalez said. “I believe that allowing the movie to play in China will bring good amounts of profit, especially because there could be a lot of people waiting to see the movie.”

According to Euronews, one factor being considered a reason for ending the ban is that Disney reintroduced Bob Iger as its Chief Executive Officer in November 2022. Iger has created a good relationship with China in the past during his last 15-year ownership of Disney, and many suspect he could be fixing Disney’s relationship with China now.

Since the lift of the ban, the first movies to be screened in China will be “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” on Feb. 7 along with “Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania” on Feb. 17.