The next movie from marvel studios, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessthe second installment centered on the adventures of the Master of the Mystical Arts, is due out in the coming days, and many fans are eagerly awaiting this defining new chapter of the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (mcu). In search of the smallest details that can give a small glimpse of what awaits them, fans have already found this hilarious mismatch in an excerpt from the film, but also another scene, this one much less funny for the Chinese government.
a newspaper like no other
Even though the movie Doctor Strange 2 is far from being released in China, it is already starting to generate some controversy in the country. This is mainly due to a recently uploaded fight scene, in which we can see a press organ opposed to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
In a recent trailer, the Master of the Mystical Arts can be seen battling the streets of New York City against the mystical inter-dimensional monster called Gargantos. During the sequence, a newsstand appears briefly in several shots, bearing Chinese characters on the side. This translates to “Da Ji Yuan Times”, which is another name for the newspaper The Epoch Times. Audiences began to take notice, with CCP supporters criticizing the film and others pointing out that it was even more unlikely that the film would be screened in China..
As if Disney and Marvel haven’t had enough problems with the China market, new trailer for movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness showed a newspaper box of the Epoch Times, publication of the Fa Lun Gong. https://t.co/UcHBqMA5xV
April 29, 2022
As if Disney and Marvel didn’t have enough trouble with the Chinese market, the new movie trailer Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness shows a newsstand of the Epoch Times, a Fa Lun Gong publication.
The Epoch Times is a right-wing media outlet known to be associated with the Falun Gong religious movement, whose leaders have been the subject of controversy in the past, due to their views and preaching being condemned as anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-science. Falun Gong followers have been heavily persecuted in China, and many of them have been detained as prisoners of conscience. More importantly, a survey conducted in 2006 revealed that these prisoners were then victims of forced organ harvesting to supply the country’s transplant industry.
It should be noted that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness does not yet have an expected release date in China. This is the latest MCU installment to be barred from screens nationwide, the last to have benefited from a Chinese release being Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019. While many projects, such as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as well as The Eternalswere the subject of minor controversies that contributed to their banning, several projects were excluded despite passing state censorshiplike Black Widow or Spider-Man: No Way Home.
But if China rules out the latest MCU film, it wouldn’t be the first to do so. Doctor Strange 2 was recently banned from screens in Saudi Arabia as well as other countries, due to the inclusion of America Chavez, an openly gay superhero.
