China to screen Marvel movies for first time since 2019's 'Avengers: Endgame'

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Marvel movies will finally be screened in Chinese cinemas again after almost four years.

On Tuesday, Marvel announced on Weibo that “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” will premiere on Feb. 7 and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” on Feb. 17 in China.

The last Marvel film that was screened in Chinese theaters was “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019.

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Since then, several movies from the American media franchise have been banned from China, including “Black Widow,” “Eternals,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and "Spider-Man: No Way Home."

Given that the Chinese film market is reportedly the second largest in the world after the U.S., China’s ban on these films has cost Disney millions of dollars in losses over the past few years.

For example, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” lost a potential $170 million to $340 million in sales from China.

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Despite the years-long ban, China has never officially stated why the latest Marvel movies following “Avengers: Endgame” have not been approved for screening in its theaters.

Several fans, however, have speculated a multitude of reasons, such as the presence of LGBTQ-plus characters in movies like “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Thor: Love and Thunder,” as well as symbols of U.S. patriotism like the Statue of Liberty in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

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