Marvel Studios was hoping to secure a China release for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness after Shang-Chi, Eternals, Black Widow and Spider-Man: No Way Home were all denied, but it recently came to light that online furor relating to a newspaper clipping in the opening scene had hindered the sequel's chances.
Now, Chinese box office analyst and reporter Oliver Chen has confirmed that Sam Raimi's film is officially banned in the Middle Kingdom.
The first few minutes of Doctor Strange 2 feature Benedict Cumberbatch's sorcerer facing-off against Gargantos, and include a quick glimpse of a newspaper kiosk bearing the Chinese characters for The Epoch Times, an international multi-language newspaper and media company which opposes the Chinese Communist Party. It's barely noticeable, but there are people who keep an eye out for this kind of thing, and they've been fueling the "controversy" online.
It seems they achieved the desired result.
There are various theories relating to China's apparent blackballing of Marvel-related movies, but it does seem to be a thing. We recently learened that In The Multiverse of Madness has also been banned in Saudi Arabia, but for a completely different reason (find out more here).
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