Marvel Studios might have trouble getting a Chinese release for both Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Chloé Zhao’s Eternals.
Although most fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are excited to see the likes of Shang-Chi and Eternals, audiences in China might not get the chance to watch either film in theaters. The country does not allow a free market on movies, and the government approves or denies every single upcoming release. As noted by Variety, there’s long been concerns about the depiction of the Mandarin as a reimagined version of Fu Manchu – who basically embodies the racist ‘Yellow Peril’ stereotype. So it wouldn’t be shocking for the Chinese government to ban the film for that reason alone.
The news comes from the observation that the CCTV6 China Movie Channel left out both Shang-Chi and Eternals from its list of upcoming U.S. releases. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the films have been banned, but it’s certainly not a good sign either. Marvel’s highly anticipated Eternals also has an interesting connection to the country. Its Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao is surprisingly prohibited from visiting China after a 2013 interview with Filmmaker Magazine went viral as she said “It goes back to when I was a teenager in China, being in a place where there are lies everywhere.”
What do you make of the surprising news? Do you think China will ban both Shang-Chi and Eternals? Sound-off in the comments below.
Introduced in Special Marvel Edition #15 in December 1973, Shang-Chi is a skilled martial artist raised in an isolated compound located in China and trained by his father Fu Manchu, a Chinese crimelord and immortal sorcerer who repeatedly attempted to conquer the world. When he was finally allowed to venture into the outside world to do his father’s bidding, Shang-Chi learned about his father’s evil ways and faked his own death before embarking on a mission to take down Fu Manchu’s criminal empire.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton from a script written by David Callaham, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings stars Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Ronny Chieng and Dallas Liu. Here’s the official synopsis for the Marvel Studios project:
“Simu Liu stars as Shang-Chi in Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings. Shang-Chi must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.”
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is scheduled to hit theaters on September 3, 2021. Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for all the latest developments regarding the future of Shang-Chi, Eternals and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
Source: Variety
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